Those Whom the Gods Desire
by errihu
Summary: Sakura is a novice in the priesthood of the Six Tailed God of Healing. While grieving for a lost patient in her own way, she meets an odd acolyte in the temple of the Battle God. Naturally, there is no way Gaara could let a gem like Sakura slip from him.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, I'm back, after a long hiatus. But that time off was not time spent idle; I've been working on three pieces of work over the last 8 months. This particular fic was my NaNoWriMo project. I finished - in that I reached 50,000 words (50,052 to be exact). The story itself is not yet done, I anticipate there will be another 30K or more words to write before I can call it done. I'm into revision and editing right now, but the first few chapters are ready to go. **

**This story is AU, meaning it's alternate universe. The characters are from Naruto, but the setting is original. It is NOT 'real life' AU - this setting is a fantasy setting of my own devising. I've preserved some traits of the shinobi world, and those will be recognisable within. However, please remember that this is not Japan, nor is it Five Countries. I will not be using honorifics in this fic and the world is a unique world, so don't expect the culture to match canon. And although I borrow some concepts from the real world, they have been altered for this world. Please note, the term 'god' in this story is gender neutral.  
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**Additionally, the characters have undergone different histories during their formative years, and as such, are somewhat different from canon. I have tried to preserve personality where possible, however there are characters that will be OOC compared to canon. Gaara is one. In this fiction he is not a jinchuuriki and has not been treated as an insane monster. Instead, he has been brought up amidst power and privilege. So he is not a psychopathic, murderous little bastard. He is, however, cocky, impertinent, and full of himself. Hopefully, dear readers, this is a change you can stomach. **

**This _is_ a NaNo fic, with all the attendant reductions in quality over my usual work. So reader be warned - it's not my best work. I'm hoping that it will be good enough to entertain you, however. It's been entertaining _me_ quite well. :)**

**As is usually the case with my writing, this work is M, although the truly M (lemon) material doesn't come until closer to the end of the fic. **

**Coming up the pipe after this is done, I plan to post two more Gaara fics - Redheaded Misadventures (starring Gaara and Karin in an improbable and sometimes hilarious adventure through unknown lands), and Tesseracts: Gaara (a Gaara-comes-to-our-world fic with rare-seen realism, and an OC that is not a Sue!)**

**Yeah, it's a departure from Grimmjow for a while. I wore the poor kitty out.**

**Enjoy your read.**

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Chapter 1

Sakura shifted her weight, sandaled feet pressing through the warm sand of the arena floor. Her opponent this time was a large man, bald and heavily muscled. He looked nothing like the little boy whose eyes she had closed for the last time several hours earlier. Seeing his 16-year old, pink haired opponent, he gave her a smirk; clearly wondering what she was doing there. The young acolyte gazed back, seemingly impassive. Inside, she was anything but.

The big man shifted in the sand, echoing the kunoichi's movements. Sakura sighed and relaxed her shoulders. He frowned at her, apparently thinking about something. Maybe he was thinking twice about facing a teenaged girl on the arena floors.

"You can't be serious about this, girlie," he said.

"I am." Sakura replied. She tugged at the wrist of her fingerless gloves.

"This is a serious fight, you know. Yeah, there's no killing allowed, but still…" He trailed off.

"I know." Sakura said. "Let's get on with it. We're disgracing ourselves before the god with our delay."

The big man shrugged. The subtle movement of his body warned Sakura that he'd apparently decided it wasn't worthwhile to talk her out of it and he was about to fight. Her deep familiarity with the human body allowed her to read his movements well enough to block and dodge his rush and heavy, ham-fisted swing.

Sand sprayed, and the crowd above the pit cheered. Sakura closed her eyes briefly and let her chakra senses read the man. Even with her eyes shut it was child's play for her to avoid his next attempted strike. He might be big, but she was trained. She opened her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, though not to her opponent.

Lightning fast, the 98 lb, 5'2", 16-year old girl struck, her fist flying towards the bald man's sternum. Surprised at her sudden speed, he blinked and staggered backwards, barely blocking her strike. There was a slight cracking noise, nearly lost in the cheering of the crowd.

"What the—," The bald dockworker was on the defensive once more as Sakura flew at him, swinging in a closed-fisted, overhand punch. He managed to intercept her swing, but the force of it sent him sliding backwards across the sand.

"Holy shit, girl, that's some strength!" He said, impressed despite himself. Maybe he'd given his thanks to the battle god a little prematurely. The little pink-haired dynamo was clearly not a pushover.

"Please do not swear on the gods' ground." Sakura spoke softly before attacking again, chakra filling her fists as she flew at her opponent.

She had to dodge his swings as she came into attack range. This wasn't good. His reach was longer than hers. He was well over twice her mass, probably approaching three times her mass, and at least a foot taller than her. But she had the strength advantage. She had the strength advantage over almost any mortal. Thank you, Tsunade.

She closed her eyes again, and lost herself in the battle rush, as she blocked his fists with her crossed arms. That would leave a bruise.

Silently, Sakura slipped into the curious mental state that had _always_ accompanied a serious fight for her. The world narrowed to her and her opponent within the confines of their battlefield. Time seemed to slow. Then, it was only her, her opponents, and the watching gods. She fought, barely aware of what she was doing, letting instinct and years of training take control. Instead, she prayed.

She prayed for the soul of the departed boy, taken too young. She prayed for forgiveness of her failure and her lack of ability. For forgiveness of the curses she had levelled at the gods as she had clutched the boy's hand, watching the light fade from his eyes for the last time as tears streamed down her cheeks. Every movement she made was prayer, penitence, and expiation. Every blow she took helped her shed her inner pain. Every blow she made helped her pour out her anger and frustration.

Sand flew, flesh rippled in uncanny slow motion as her fists lashed out and landed. She took hits, and gave them. At one point she was knocked off her feet and she slid across the sand face-first; her opponent had some strength as well, it seemed. But she got back up, wiped the sand from her face, flicked away the sweat, and went right back at it.

It wasn't long before Sakura won, the blow that ended the fight sending the man flying across the arena to impact against the wall. She knelt in the sand, panting and staring straight ahead as the world resumed. The sound of the cheering crowd around the arena helped to return her fully to her surroundings.

It was over. She had won. Her sins had been expiated in blood, sweat, sand, and pain. Presumably, she had been forgiven of her transgressions.

Acolytes of the battle god entered from the side portals of the arena, bearing a stretcher for the dazed dockworker. A single priest came to Sakura. At least, she assumed he was a priest, with the flak jacket and the shoulder patches.

"Medical attention will be offered to you if you will follow me." The older man said. Sakura didn't recognize him, but that wasn't surprising. She knew a few people in the battle god's priesthood, but not all that many. And most of the ones she knew were novices like herself.

"Just take me to a room. I'm a healer. I can handle it myself," she said.

The priest blinked at her in surprise, but didn't comment. Instead, he transferred the senbon needle he was sucking on from one corner of his mouth to the other. "Alright then. Just come along and I'll take you to a cooldown room," he said.

She followed him. The priest seemed to be a fairly good natured man, chatting amiably as they walked. Sakura figured he was maybe 10 years older than she was. He seemed a little irreverent, which surprised her.

"So you're one of the healing god's?" He asked as they arrived at the cooldown room.

"Yeah," she said. "Don't tell the others I'm here, please."

"Don't worry girl, your secret's safe with me. Do you need anything?"

Sakura looked around the room. There was already water, cloths, bandages, and other medical supplies. Everything was set up just the way it should be.

"This should be fine," she said.

"This your first time in the arena?"

"No."

At her soft negative, the priest gave her another surprised look. It was very rare, but not entirely unheard of, for those sworn to the healing god to take part in arena fights. The news that this wasn't her first time was even more surprising. He didn't comment, though, and Sakura was grateful. Of course, he wasn't _supposed_ to comment. The battle god's arenas promised an opportunity to atone for one's sins, no questions asked. The fights were usually until knock-out or surrender. Win or lose, one paid for one's transgressions in pain, and sometimes, in blood.

"Well then…" He paused, obviously not sure what to say. He seemed to decide. "Why don't you see to those bruises and clean up, and I'll go collect your part of the winnings," he suggested.

Wordlessly, Sakura nodded. She stepped into the cooldown room, letting the priest close the door after her.

Cleanup first. She stripped down to her underwear and used the water and cloths to cleanse away the sweat and the sand. It gave her the opportunity to identify her wounds. She had a few. There were numerous scrapes and bruises, and she thought she might have fractured her radius in one of the blocks. It ached badly.

She gathered healing chakra and focused it into her hand, releasing it over her wounded arm. The livid bruise faded and the pain disappeared as she healed herself. Her investigation revealed that she had indeed sustained a hairline fracture, which she was now healing. A few seconds later it was healed, strong as it had been before and good as new. She turned her healing powers to the worst of the bruises, watching purple and black fade to green and then yellow and then the peach tone of her healthy skin.

She followed with some of the scratches and scrapes, re-knitting skin and flesh and sending grains of sand plinking to the stone floor as she poured healing chakra into her own body. The most minor bruises and scrapes she left, opting instead to use the antiseptic provided and putting a bandage over them. No use wasting her chakra on something so minor.

Her healing done, she inspected herself in the full-length mirror provided, and then shook the sand out of her fighting outfight. The short pants and loose red shirt smelled of sweat and sand, but that was ok. She could launder it when she returned to the novitiate. She put her clothes back on.

A knock came at the door.

"Enter," she said. She watched the door open in the mirror, seeing the priest from before peeking his handsome face in. Seeing her whole of body and dressed, he smiled and stepped into the room as she turned too face him.

"I see you are well. I guess you're really one of hers then after all, huh?" He said, rhetorically.

"Yeah." Sakura said.

"I brought your winnings. You did well. Here you go, by the way. 11,000 ryo."

"Thank you," She replied, accepting the purse.

He seemed to consider something, then apparently made a decision. He grinned at her. "If this isn't your _first_ time in the arena, if you don't mind me asking, how many times have you fought here?"

Sakura blushed. "Three times," she admitted.

He looked impressed. "_Three_ times? Did you win then too?"

"Not the first time." Sakura said. She wasn't expecting that reaction. She wasn't sure what she _had_ been expecting. Disapproval maybe. But not for someone to be impressed. But then again, she was in the battle god's house right now. His standards were different from the standards of the healing god's house. What would be considered something slightly shameful in the healing god's house was probably something worth bragging about here.

"But you did the second time?"

"Yeah," she admitted.

"Way to go, girl. That's some skills. Who taught you your taijutsu?"

"Rock Lee," she grinned, despite herself.

"Haha, I should have known. He's something, isn't he. That kid would have gone far in our house, I think. Well, I got one more thing to do here, then you can go do what you like," he smiled at her, reaching out his hand and passing it over her in the ancient benediction of the pantheon. "Your sins against the pantheon have been paid for on the battle god's sands. Go forth with heart and soul free of care, child of the gods," he spoke the ritual words, the phrase she had heard twice before now in a room very like this.

"Thank you."

"Thank _you_, girl. You made the pantheon some good money tonight," he winked at her. She smiled shyly back. She knew well enough that the moneys made from gambling revenues in the temples of the battle god scattered across the land made up a large part of the shared funds of the pantheon. Offerings could be made to any particular temple, and they would stay within that god's domain, but the battle god's arenas were an engine for funds for the entire pantheon. It was part of the reason why anyone could atone there, not merely those sworn to the battle god. Anyone from the public could choose to expiate their sins on his ground, not just the clergy. Anyone could do it, even those sworn to other gods. Though it _was_ pretty rare for the dedicated to fight on the arenas. The dedicated, after all, were not known for sinning all that much.

Of course there were those who fought in the arena for fun and profit, too. Sakura wasn't one of them. Sakura came for her own reasons. She was fairly certain that most of the clergy who fought here weren't in it for the money or profit. Though, she admitted privately to herself that she wouldn't be surprised if the battle god's dedicated participated in arena fights just for the fun of it, though.

She said her goodbye to the priest, who cheerfully bade her farewell after asking if she needed to be shown the way out. She didn't. She'd been well trained in the years before she'd found her calling and been dedicated to the healing god. She'd been well trained since. Tsunade had seen to that when it became clear that Sakura was willing to learn. Just because she was a healer didn't mean her ninja training had to lapse, even if most healers ultimately chose not to pursue the advanced combat arts.

Any good shinobi of the priesthood should be able to find his or her way out of a place after having only been there once. Sakura was no exception. She went down the hallway and ascended the stone steps up to the main level the battle god's temple, sorting her money as she climbed. The roar of the crowd, muffled by the stone, told her that another fight was going on. Good, the shrine would likely be deserted.

At the top of the stairs she hung a left and headed for the shrine. She glanced around and saw no one. The base of the small obelisk was adorned with blood lilies, reputed to be the favourite of the battle god. The offering pile was separated into different varieties of goods; cash, food, flowers, and material goods. The blood lily she had brought before she entered the arena was sitting on top off the mound of flowers.

She bowed before the shrine, paying her respects, and then knelt before it and laid a portion of her winnings among the cash. As she rose, a voice disturbed her reverie.

"You were one of the fighters just a little while ago, weren't you?" The voice was male; his tone casual but curious.

Sakura took several steps back from the offering pile and turned, slightly surprised. She had been certain no one else was in the shrine with her. But there, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed in front of his chest, was a boy about her age, maybe a year older. He had flaming red hair, cut short in a tousled mess, and very pale skin. On his temple she could see the hint of a tattoo – she thought it might be the symbol for love. How curious. He was slender and wiry, but there was an aura of strength about him all the same. He was dressed in an acolyte's flak jacket – obviously he'd done his tasks already and been accepted. Uncanny, pale blue-green eyes met hers – devoid of pupils and glimmering with a fierce intelligence. She could sense the massive chakra he contained. He must be the child of one of the more powerful priest families, she thought.

"Yes." Sakura answered, for some reason feeling slightly dizzy when she looked at him. Then she blinked and gave her head a slight shake, and the feeling cleared.

"You're one of the healing god's dedicated, aren't you." It was a statement more than a question. Sakura nodded. The ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "How curious. Usually your kind is patching up the unfortunate losers, not creating them." His voice was slightly mocking.

"I know."

"It's unusual for any of the slug's people to be here voluntarily," he said, voice becoming teasing, "you can't mean to tell me a 16-year old novice is so steeped in sin that she needs to come seek absolution on the battle god's sands," he smirked.

She flushed at his casual usage of the term 'slug'. Yes, the healing god was the Six Tailed Slug of Healing, but still, it seemed so irreverent. She flushed even brighter when he questioned her reasons for fighting. He was clearly not acting in any official capacity of the battle god's temple right now, but her motivation was still a sore subject for Sakura, and somewhat taboo. Absolution, no questions asked.

"My reasons are my own," she said, quietly.

"Maybe you're in the wrong temple," he suggested, a hint of a smirk back on his attractive mouth.

"I know my calling," she said, confidently. "Lady Tsunade has a great deal of hope for my healing abilities."

"Lady Tsunade, eh?" He asked, rhetorically. "Still… one can't help but wonder what a novice of the slug is doing throwing large men across the floor in the arena. It's unusual by far. It's not your first time, either. I've seen you here now, what…" he arched a hairless eyebrow "twice before this?"

"Yes," she looked away briefly, feeling slightly ashamed. What did this oh-so-cool, oh-so-collected young acolyte of the battle god want with her? Seriously? But there was something about him that intrigued her, though she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was his confidence. Or his looks. At 16, Sakura was by no means unaffected by boys. She just hadn't given them much thought, what with the need to focus on her studies.

"You should be careful, girl. A healer in the arena like that, and you might just draw the attention of the gods," he warned, again, that slight mocking tone that seemed to be present in everything he said coming through strong. He rose from his leaning pose and sauntered over to the offering pile, scooping up a stuffed bun and biting into it.

"Isn't that the whole point of being in the clergy?" She asked, watching him loot the offering pile with incredulity. Sure, the food there would go to the battle god's dedicated anyway, but in _her_ temple, it was usually _received_ first. But then, if the priest who saw her to the cooldown room this time was any indication, perhaps the battle god's clergy were more irreverent than the healing god's.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you," he smirked again, possibly as much at her discomfort at watching him eat the bun from the offering as from whatever else had him smirking so damn much at her. "Yes, the priesthood wants to be _known_ by the gods. They want their prayers answered and their powers to work, and for the favoured to have their special gifts and blessings. But individual mortals do not truly want to be the focus of the gods' attention. The gods always want something, you know. It's generally not more than a mortal can give, but they _always_ want something," he smiled mysteriously.

"Uh," she said, feeling a little drawn. "I'm just a novice. I'm a nobody. How would that get the gods' attention? I mean, maybe if I was someone like Tsunade or even Shizune…" She trailed off.

"You're a healer, pit fighting, repeatedly. And you're praying while you do it, I'll bet. The gods listen, you know," he said.

She wondered how he knew that she was praying, and then she realized that most people probably prayed on the sands. Well, most of the people who were there to expiate their sins, at least.

"And I'm fairly certain that wasn't 10% you just put down on the offering pile," he continued.

She blushed.

"Tithe. It means 10%, you know," he said to her.

"I'm aware," she muttered under her breath.

"Now unless you won a lot more than I thought you did, that's well over 10%," he raised an eyebrow to her.

"I know that. They teach us math at the Six Tails' temple too," she said, acidly.

He smiled, the first genuine smile she'd seen on him since she first saw him. "What are you going to do with the rest of it?"

"I'll put the same as I did here on the Six Tails' shrine," she admitted.

He snorted, an amused sound. "The tithe is also not meant to represent what you keep for yourself, girl. You won that, fair and square in the eyes of the gods. They don't demand from mortals what they can't afford to give."

"I live off tithes," she returned. "I'm fed and clothed and educated from tithes. The least I can do is give some back. Besides, what's a novice going to do with all that money? It's not like we have space to keep possessions."

He shrugged. "You will some day. When you become an acolyte and then a priest, you'll have larger quarters. Plenty of the clergy amass trinkets and clothes, and those who keep up with their martial studies are known for spending their stipends on special weapons that don't come from the dispensary. You might want to start saving," he finished off his bun.

Sakura gave him a flat look. "I keep 10%," she said, defensively.

He gave a short bark of laughter at her admission. He reached once more into the offering pile and pulled out a blood lily. _Her_ blood lily. Sakura watched as he slipped it into the D-ring of one of the many buckles on his flack jacket.

"Look, I need to get going, Tsunade wants me for an errand this afternoon…" She started. It wouldn't do to be late. She was skirting the lines of acceptability in being here at all. She suspected Tsunade knew about her coming to the arena, but as of yet, the high priestess had said nothing to her about it. Sakura did not want her only outlet for her inner feelings of guilt and sorrow to be taken away. Which it might be, if Tsunade found a reason to disapprove of her visits to the battle god's temple.

"What's your name, girl?" He demanded, before she could back out of there politely and be off.

"Sakura," She replied.

"Gaara," He said, though she hadn't asked. She'd been curious, actually. He gave her another smirk and a calculating glance. "You have to go?"

"Yes."

"Then you'd better get going. I'm sure the slug princess will be upset with you if you're late," he said.

She flushed. He _must_ be highly placed in the battle god's ranks if he could get away with talking about the high priestess of one of the other gods like that, and if he could help himself to the offerings like that. She was silently certain that he was a child of someone highly placed in the priesthood. Only hereditary priests typically had that kind of hubris.

"See you later, Gaara," she said, giving him a quick, tiny bow. He smiled and gave her a deeper bow, which seemed somewhat mocking.

"No doubt, Sakura," He replied, archly.

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**Special thanks to Musichowler for the beta job - as we all know, NaNoWriMo is about quantity over quality and I'm afraid my first job had a few errors. Also, thanks to danyel for the advance read. If you haven't already, go check out danyel's _Marriage in the Sand_, a Gaara/Hinata fic that I've been betaing for her.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well now, I see people seem to be enjoying this so far. Don't worry, there's more where this came from. Updates will be once a week, real life and beta schedules permitting. **

**Thanks for all your reviews, faves, and alerts. I really do love seeing those. They're inspiring. It's particularly heartwarming to see the names of a few writers I enjoy listing this story as a favourite :) Thanks guys!

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Chapter 2

Sakura left then, and made her way back to the Six Tails' temple. It was easy enough for the young shinobi novice to navigate the stone walls and lanes of the complex which housed the nine temples of the tailed gods. She'd been doing it, after all, since she was an undedicated initiate, training in the common academy. She ran along half-foot-wide walls of stone, jumping onto the roofs of outbuildings (but not the temples themselves, that would be blasphemous), and leaping over the gardens and courtyards in the bright afternoon sunlight.

A few passing dedicated watched her as she flew past, and while some made faces at the young woman's travel-mode, others smiled. All members of the clergy were chakra users, after all. Whatever they chose to do after dedication, they were each given the same shinobi training at the academy. Few priests would find fault with her using her skills in this manner, but there were always a few spoilsports who would prefer the novices walk on the provided paths.

She arrived at the entrance to the Six Tails' temple in good time, puffing slightly from the exertion. With a blush, she realized abruptly that she wouldn't have time to change out of her soiled clothes – Tsunade was expecting her right away. She grimaced and ran her fingers through her sweaty, messy pink hair, attempting to look somewhat presentable. Then she sighed and walked in, heading for the high priestess's chamber.

Tsunade's door was closed when Sakura found her way to it. Gingerly, she knocked on the stone surface. "Come in," replied her mentor's muffled voice. The girl pushed the door open, the well-designed stone portal swinging easily aside with nary a squeak. Tsunade sat at her desk, focused on a pile of papers in front of her. She was wearing her favourite green robe, and her long blonde hair was tied in the usual pigtails she wore. On the high priestess's forehead was a purple diamond; an outward sign of the Six Tailed Slug's favour, and the reason why this woman, well beyond her hundredth year, barely looked past her 20s.

Tsunade's eyes slid up from the papers and glanced over Sakura appraisingly. The pink haired teen thought she saw a flicker of annoyance pass through her mentor's amber-brown eyes. "Sakura. You're here. Good," she didn't mention her student's disarray, or the sand still clinging to her shorts, or the beads of sweat on her broad forehead. But a slight tone of disapproval shone through her voice all the same.

Sakura gave a bow, much deeper than the barely respectful one she had offered Gaara, and waited for Tsunade's instructions.

"You are to go into the city and fetch these items for me. You may not have enough time to gather all of them today, so you have until the supper meal tomorrow. You are exempted from hospital duty until you have gathered everything on the list." Tsunade held out a sheet of paper. Sakura stepped forward and accepted it, glancing over the list.

Written in Tsunade's neat script were about thirty various alchemical products and healing plants. Sakura knew where she would be able to get several of the items, but some of the more arcane sounding things she would probably have to ask around for. The girl guessed this was also a test of her information gathering skills. She nodded absently as she looked over the list.

"Take this. It should cover the cost," Tsunade said, holding up a small jute bag of coins and bills. Sakura took it and weighed it in her hands. She'd stash it in her hidden pouch when she got back to her novice's cell.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." The teen replied. Tsunade smiled, the first real smile she'd made since Sakura arrived at her chamber.

"Now go, Sakura." Tsunade said. As Sakura turned at her dismissal, she paused once more as her teacher called out one last thing. "And stop somewhere nice and eat. You deserve it," Tsunade said.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." Sakura repeated, a little more quiet and subdued. She left the high priestess's office, closing the stone door behind her.

Sakura knew full well what Tsunade was doing. By getting her out of the hospital and sending her on an errand, she was keeping her student distracted and unable to dwell overmuch on what had happened that morning. The old woman had done something similar twice before. Each time Sakura had lost a patient.

Sakura knew full well what her teacher's tactic was. And she appreciated it. She felt much better now that she'd had a chance to visit the arena, but she was still grateful for the chance to escape into Miyajima City. She wasn't sure she could face the children's ward again right now, not so soon after little Hiro went to join the gods.

It was long past time to go to her cell and change. She would shower first, though. It was hot out there today, and between the fight and the run back to the Six Tails' temple, she had only gotten more sweaty and dirty. The cloths and water in the cooldown room had only done so much, after all.

She reached her cell and placed the money bag and list on her bed, and stripped down. She threw her clothes in the laundry basket, and grabbed a bathrobe and her shower basket, flying out of her room. Her headlong dash almost brought her into a collision course with another of the novices, and she screeched to a halt before bowling over Ino.

"Sorry Ino!" She shouted, as she dashed off to the showers.

"Oy, Forehead! What's the rush?" Ino demanded, starting to follow her.

"Lady Tsunade has me on a task," she replied.

"And that requires a shower?" Ino asked, keeping pace with Sakura easily. She gestured to Sakura's shower caddy.

"It does when I'm all sweaty and smelly." Sakura wrinkled her nose.

"What were you doing that you're all sweaty and smelly? Hey, didn't you have hospital duty this morning? Wasn't there a patient—," Ino broke off suddenly. "_Oh_."

She hated the sound of pitying understanding in Ino's voice. "Yes," Sakura sighed, slowing to a halt outside the novice girls' bathing room doors.

"Oh, Sakura, I'm so sorry." Ino said. Through the corner of her eyes, Sakura could see the blond haired, blue-eyed girl giving her a pitying look. Sakura sighed again. She felt like covering her eyes.

"It's… ok. It happens." The pink-haired girl said, morosely. She didn't feel quite up to looking up from her feet.

Ino's soft hand rested on her shoulder for a moment, and then Sakura felt herself pulled into a rough hug. The other girl was impulsive like that. Ino could be a real pain sometimes, and sometimes a bitch, but her heart was in the right place. Sakura returned the hug.

"It's ok, Ino," the pink-haired novice said, finally pulling out of the hug. "Tsunade has me running tasks for the next day."

"Oh, do you get to go down in the city?" Ino asked, mood suddenly brightening. That was Ino. The blonde always itched for a chance to go into the city to shop. Generally novices were forbidden to do so, unless on specific assignments. Acolytes, on the other hand, could leave the compound freely. Priests, of course, were under no movement restrictions. The exception for novices was when they were conducting their pilgrimage tasks. Novices on pilgrimage could go where they needed to in order to complete their quests for the gods. Sakura was dreading hers. In another year or two, it would be looked upon as amiss if she had not yet started them, but for now, she still had time to put it off. Pilgrimage was usually performed somewhere between the ages of 14 and 19.

"Yeah. I have until supper hour tomorrow to find everything on this big long list of stuff." Sakura scrunched up her nose. She scooped up a clean, folded towel from the bench. "I know what most of it is, but there's some stuff on there I've never even heard about before," she headed for one of the curtained shower stalls. Unselfconsciously, she untied her robe and hung it on the hook, towel hanging beside it. She stepped into the stall.

"It's probably a test," she heard Ino's voice through the patter of the warm rain of the shower.

"I figured as much." Sakura replied, her own voice echoing from the walls of the shower. Standing in a shower always did funny things to acoustics, she'd found. "It always is with her."

"Don't I know it." Ino remarked. Sakura gave a chuckle, closing her eyes as she lathered raspberry-scented shampoo into her hair, cleansing away the sweat, dirt, and sand.

"Where did you go this morning? I missed you at lunch in the refectory."

Sakura paused mid-lather, then went back to shampooing. As she rinsed, she replied, keeping it vague. "I was out at another temple."

"Oh, making an offering?" Ino asked, casually. That wasn't unusual.

"Yeah." Sakura didn't want to say much more than that. She didn't want to admit she was fighting in the battle god's arena. Ino was a terrible gossip. It would be all over the novitiate in ten seconds flat.

She finished washing up while Ino chattered at her cheerfully. Finished with her ablutions, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel.

"So, do you think I could get away with going down with you into the city?" Ino asked, slyly.

"Probably not." Ino pouted. "Hey, it's not under my control," Sakura mumbled. "If you want to go, ask Tsunade."

"I already _know_ she'll say no," Ino muttered.

"Why do you want to go down to the city so badly?" Sakura asked.

The blonde batted her thick eyelashes in false innocence. "Becaaaaause," she said, obviously unwilling to say her reasons.

Sakura snorted. "It's a boy, isn't it."

"That's none of your business." Ino snapped.

Sakura rolled her green eyes. So anyone else's business was fair game, but the gossip queen was exempt? _Suuuuuuuure_. Besides, Ino's reaction all but confirmed that it _was_ indeed a boy.

"You know we're not supposed to see boys until we've reached 18." Sakura said. "The priesthood wants us to focus on our studies, not the opposite sex."

Ino gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm doing _fine_ in my studies. Surely kissing a boy can't be _that_ detrimental!" She huffed.

"It's still the rules, Ino. Like no going out of the compound without permission."

"I know, I know. Hey, don't you have somewhere to be?" Ino said, apparently tiring of the conversation.

"Yeah," Sakura grinned, and then was unable to resist the barb; "In the city."

Ino stuck out her tongue. Sakura shrugged on her robe and deposited her used towel in the laundry basket, grabbed her tote, and headed out of the girls' showers back to her cell. Ino followed her, going to her own cell.

"Well have fun down in the city without me, Forehead!" Ino said, with a hint of rancour.

"I'm not going for _fun_, Ino," Sakura replied.

"Still, get some while you have the chance. Ugh, the novitiate is so _boring_ sometimes." Ino complained.

"Do your pilgrimage and become an acolyte then," Sakura suggested.

"You first." Ino stuck her tongue out again. Sakura gave her a good natured eye roll and dipped into her cell to change.

Fifteen minutes later she was on her way out the gates of the temple compound after flashing Tsunade's note to the guards, and was making her way into the city. She had the list of 'groceries' tucked under her arm and the money stashed away safely where it wouldn't present a target to pickpockets. It was still early afternoon and she figured she would have enough time to get some of this stuff before the shops started to close up for the night. She looked up at the sunny blue sky and smiled, feeling a lot better.

"Well, I'd better get a move on," she said to herself, and stepped onto the long stone stairway down into the city. The view from the top of the temple rise was gorgeous. She could see the streets of Miyajima City spread out below her, bustling with people. To the east was the harbour, and the sea, with all the little barrier islands out among the glittering waves. North and west of the city the land went from farmland to jungle on the slopes of Fire Mountain; the perfect, ice-capped cone of the extinct volcano rising above the land like a sentinel. South was the fertile region, where much of the country's food was grown, and the fields spread out like the patches on a quilt.

The marketplaces were busy, and Sakura was having mixed results filling Tsunade's list. She had decided to go for the things she knew were quick and easy first, before going for the unknowns. She could inquire about the unknowns as she shopped. At the herb vendor's she managed to find several items on the list all in one spot, and she bargained her way into a good price for them. She put them in her pack and looked around.

Night had started to fall before Sakura had made her way through much more than a quarter of the list. She stopped for a moment on the street, looking up at the sky to admire the sunset gloriously painting itself across the horizon. Then she sighed, and returned herself to earth as her stomach rumbled.

That's right, Tsunade had said something about getting herself something good to eat. Sakura would hardly protest that! With a grin, she headed for a restaurant that she knew was good, but not too expensive.

Well-trained shinobi reflexes allowed her to dodge the hand she felt reaching out for her. She heard a dry, familiar-sounding chuckle. "I thought novices weren't permitted into the city." A male voice said.

Sakura whirled. Just as she had expected, it was that red-headed boy from the battle god's temple. "Gaara," she said, giving him a quick nod of greeting. Again, he gave her a slightly insulting, overdone bow back.

"At your pleasure, my lady," he smirked at her.

Sakura frowned.

"What are you doing in the city, novice?" Gaara asked teasingly.

"I'm on an errand for Lady Tsunade," she defended herself.

Gaara smirked at her with a knowing look.

"I _am_." Sakura insisted, pulling out the list. "See?" She held it out.

Before she could react, Gaara had deftly transferred the list from her hands to his own. He glanced over the writing with a 'hmm'.

"She wants you to pick up geddys leaf? Good luck finding that."

Sakura sighed. "Don't I know it. I suspect this is also a test of my ability to find information."

"Oh really… Hmm… a polished sphere of fire mountain obsidian… a perfect double terminated quartz… I hope the slug princess provided you with some money, Cherry Blossom." Gaara raised an inquiring naked eyebrow.

"She did." Sakura said. Gaara held out her list, and she snatched it back from him. He smirked at her action.

"So, how do you think you're going to find that geddys leaf?" Gaara asked, giving her a contemplative look.

"Well, uh…"

"You know it's contraband in this city, I hope."

"Yeah I know. It's also a powerful healing herb when mixed correctly with the right other herbs and substances. Like fish scales and hibiscus stamen."

"Hmm… I saw both of those on the list."

"Yeah."

"Do you know where to find all of this stuff?" Gaara smirked at her.

"Most of it." Sakura replied. "Some of it I'm not sure about. Like the geddys leaf," She admitted.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah," she listed off the five items she expected to have trouble with. Partly because she had no clue what they were.

"Well…" Gaara trailed off, looking thoughtful, finger on his chin. "I know where you can get most of those. But the stores are closing now."

Sakura sighed. She was well aware of that. Of course, here was Gaara, helping her waste time. But then again, since it was nightfall and everything was either closed or closing, did it really matter if she was wasting time? "I have until the supper bell tomorrow."

"Well, you _might_ just succeed in your tasks, then. Consider it practice for your pilgrimage," He commented.

"Yeaah…" Sakura drawled. She wasn't looking forward to her pilgrimage. Sure, it was a necessary step before she could become an acolyte, but… some of the people she knew had taken more than a _year_ to do theirs. And who knows what the gods would ask of her. They seemed to ask some people things that seem easy, and some people things that sounded impossible to her.

"Don't worry, Sakura. The gods never ask what mortals cannot do," he smirked at her obvious nervousness.

"I don't know about that. Some of those tasks I've heard other people getting sound a little impossible to me," Sakura said.

"Maybe for you, but not for them," Gaara replied, smirking.

"I guess you'd know. _You_ survived it," she pointed out.

"Why, I guess I have," he acknowledged.

Sakura's gut rumbled again, this time loudly. She felt acutely embarrassed, especially when Gaara developed a shark-like grin at the sound. Nope, she hadn't managed to hide that one. He'd definitely heard it.

"Hungry?" he asked teasingly.

"A little bit," She said. "I was actually considering going for supper when I ran into you." Never mind that she hadn't really run into him at all. He'd clearly spotted her and decided to continue on their conversation from before. Or something. And he _still_ had her blood lily on his flak jacket.

"Were you, now?" He asked archly. "Where were you thinking of going?"

"Matsuki's."

"Matsuki's. Not a bad place to eat. Want company?" Gaara asked.

Sakura blinked. Was this guy asking her out or something? She gave him a slightly suspicious, sidelong glance. He had a fairly neutral, casual expression. He wasn't ogling her or anything. Maybe he just wanted to be friends.

"Yeah, sure."

Which was how she found herself across from Gaara at Matsuki's, ordering yakiniku while he lounged in the booth.

"So are you related to the head priest of the battle god?" She asked, as they waited for their food to arrive.

"You could say that," He replied. "I'm from the desert."

"Ohhh…" He might be highly placed, indeed. The temple in the city was not the main temple, unlike some of the other gods in the pantheon. The battle god's main temple was actually found in the desert, several days travel to the west of the capital city. The Six Tails' temple here was the god's main temple, on the other hand, and Sakura certainly benefited from being a novice in what was the premier centre for the dedicated of the healing god in the country. "So how come you're out here then, slumming it?" she smirked at him.

He smirked right back. "I guess you could call it that," he drawled. "I'm here for something special. I'll probably be here for a number of years before I go back."

"Think you'll make priest while you're out here?" She asked.

"I don't think my place in the priesthood was ever in question" He replied. Yep, she thought, hereditary priest.

The servers chose that moment to come out with their food. Sakura eagerly picked out some slices of raw meat and laid them across the grill.

"Are you hungry, Sakura?" Gaara commented, more a wry observation than an actual question.

"I missed lunch. I was in the arena," She said, slightly defensively.

He raised a naked eyebrow at her. "It's not healthy to skip meals."

"You're telling me? I'm the healer. I know that."

"So why did you?"

"Because there wasn't enough _time_," she snapped. His question brought back memories of this morning's events with a suddenness she hadn't expected. The six year old boy with the mystery illness that had been under her care for the last three weeks. Identifying the illness days too late to implement an effective treatment. Trying anyway. Failing. Watching the little boy's life slip away as the illness took him, knowing damn well that she could have saved his life if she'd just been _a little_ smarter, a _little_ quicker at identifying what was wrong with him. She'd missed the treatment window by only a few days.

Before she could stop it, a tear rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes, feeling ashamed, and then was surprised when she felt a touch wiping away her tear. Her opening eyes revealed Gaara leaning across the table (somehow avoiding the grill) and reaching out to touch her face.

"Hey, whatever it was, you're forgiven now. You know that," he said, softly. It was probably the first thing he'd said that wasn't couched in a knowing, mocking, sarcastic, sardonic, or slightly teasing tone.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I had a bad day. That's all." It felt like a betrayal to reduce Hiro's death to nothing more than 'a bad day', but she really didn't want to talk about it.

"Hey," he said, less than serious tone back, "shit happens."

"That it does," she muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She thought about that for a moment, and then shook her head. "Not right now," he gave her a slight nod, dropping the subject.

"Your meat is cooking. You might want to turn it."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, turning the strips quickly while Gaara gave a sardonic half-smile. He also turned his.

They ate together, chatting about minor things like temple life and the joys of novicehood. Gaara was past his novice days, and had a 'been there, done that' attitude about the whole thing. She found out that he was 17, and had finished his tasks before coming to Miyajima City. Though he never outright said it, Sakura was 100% certain by the end of the meal that he _was_ indeed a hereditary. They talked longer than she expected before finally finishing their meal and asking for their cheque.

"I'll get it." Gaara said, when it came.

"No, I can do it. I _did_ win some money today," she blushed.

He smirked back at her. "I told you to save it. You might want that for something else. I'll get it," he insisted.

"What if I _want_ to pay?" She demanded.

"Tough luck," he gave her a smirk. When the waitress came to take their payment, they elbowed each other and struggled in an attempt to be the one to pay. Gaara won, probably by dint of his greater height and reach. And the fact that Sakura didn't want to hurt him. She could have won if she _really _wanted to. The waitress apparently found their antics amusing, covering her mouth to stifle the laugh.

"I'm going to get you back for that." Sakura said, as they walked from the restaurant.

"I'd like to see you try," he smirked down at her.

"You're insufferable," she accused.

"Guilty as charged," he acknowledged lightly. "Are you going back to the temple?"

"Uhh…" Sakura said. She probably _should_, but she had a feeling that her best chance of getting geddys leaf would be after dark. "I was going to try to get the geddys leaf…" she trailed off.

"Ahh, right, Lady Tsunade's list." His voice was dry. "You're probably right."

"Yeah," she echoed. "Any ideas?" She'd take any help she could get here. Despite the fact that she wasn't about to bring Ino into the city with her, Gaara was _here_, and he seemed willing to at least stand here with her outside of Matsuki's.

"Actually…" he drawled, "I believe I may have some ideas. Follow me down to the docks," he turned to her. Under the pools of streetlight he seemed to look even more fey than he had inside the battle god's shrine. "That is, if you can travel like a shinobi," he gave her a challenging smirk.

"You're on." It was all she had to say. Gaara vanished in one fluid movement, but Sakura was able to track him by the wake of chakra trailing behind him. A split second later and she was launching for the roof of Matsuki's, after him like a hawk on a squirrel.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm glad to see you still like it. Here's chapter 3. **

**I like that some of you are speculating on the relationship between Gaara and Shukaku. There is one, but it doesn't get elucidated for a long time, and it's rather complex. Neither Gaara nor Naruto (who does exist in this story and will come into play in a few chapters) 'house' the kyuubi or the ichibi per se, but there is a connection and it's an important one. Keep reading and you'll find out eventually :)**

**Thanks to Musichowler for the beta job, and to danyel for her advance read and feedback. danyel writes Marriage in the Sand, a Gaa/Hina that I beta for her. If you like that pairing, go read it, it's good. **

**And now, on to the story. Have fun and see you in a week!

* * *

**

Chapter 3

Gaara led Sakura on a pretty good chase across the rooftops of the nicer garden quarter where they'd dined, over the closed market, through the deserted bazaar, and down to the docks. When he stopped, he stopped so abruptly that she nearly ran into him, but she caught herself in time.

She'd keep up with him, at least. She was slightly winded, where he hadn't even seemed to break a sweat (although it was hard to tell in the very low light of the docks), but she'd managed.

"Let me do the talking," he said, in a low voice. "I'll need about 1,000 ryo."

"Just a sec," she whispered, fishing in her hidden stash and retrieving the bills. She held them out to him, and he accepted them without looking at her. He was clearly on alert, gazing around for any sign of a threat.

"Stay close behind me but try to remain unseen," he said.

"Right," she nodded. She was a shinobi. Even though she'd been a novice of the Six Tails for three years now, she was still a shinobi and retained her shinobi training.

"Hold this," he said, removing the blood lily from his flak jacket and holding it out to her with a smirk. She took it. It didn't seem to have suffered at all for the rigours of its journey. He removed something from his pack, which was revealed to be some kind of scarf, which he wrapped around himself. Now, he looked like a young nobleman out for a stroll, rather than a shinobi priest.

Silently, Sakura followed Gaara deeper into the dark. She closed her eyes and navigated by sound and chakra senses, giving her eyes a chance to adjust. When she opened them again, it was much easier to see, but still very dark.

They slipped between two warehouses, one of which was clearly used for processing fish, by the smell of it. Sakura drew herself up against the wall as she heard low, male voices from the little space between the warehouses and the old seawall ahead. She looked to Gaara, who gave her a quick nod and made a gesture for 'stay out of sight'. She nodded back, and dropped back to a point where she would be able to see and hear what was going on, but was unlikely to be spotted.

Gaara, on the other hand, sauntered out like he owned the place. As he walked into the nook, the other two men stopped talking and watched him warily.

"Whaddya want, kid? This ain't no place for playing around," a hard bitten man with short salt-and pepper stubble all over his chin demanded.

"I need some murky green. I got money." Gaara muttered, giving them a direct look.

"You think so, eh, kid?" The other man, who seemed younger than the stubbly man, was still probably twice their age or more. "What makes you think we got anything to do with murky green?"

Gaara produced a 100 ryo bill. The two men eyed it.

"If you think _that's_ going to get you any murky green, you're joking. Why don't you go buy some candy.

"I don't want candy. I want murky green." Gaara said, quietly.

Sakura wondered if her overconfident new friend had just blown it and they'd just lost their only chance at getting some geddys leaf tonight.

"Don't kid around," the old man said.

"That isn't for murky green. That's because I think you know where I could find some." Gaara replied.

"How much is some murky green worth to you?" The younger man demanded, snatching the bill from Gaara's hands.

"How much is it worth to _you_?" Gaara asked, smoothly. His arrogance appeared to grate on the two men.

The old man snorted. "Don't get cocky with me, kid. Unless you're willing to pay, get out of here." Sakura started to worry.

"How much?" Gaara repeated.

The old man licked his lips. "1,200 ryo for a gram."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I can get it across the walls for 600 a gram."

"Then go across the walls. Put your money where your mouth is or get out. You better hand over at least 1,100," snapped the younger man.

Sakura _really_ started to worry.

"Screw that. 800 or I walk."

"Yeah, whatever, kid," the old man said, dismissively.

Gaara straightened and turned back towards the alley where Sakura was hiding. She ducked away from the light so that she wouldn't be seen.

"I'm not desperate." Gaara commented. "If it's going to be more than 900, I'll go elsewhere," he started walking towards the mouth of the alley.

"900, huh?" The younger man asked, just as Gaara reached the pool of shadows between the two buildings. Gaara caught Sakura's eyes and smirked. She stuck out her tongue at him. His smirk deepened. Then his face straightened.

"900." Gaara repeated.

"I guess we could let it go for that. C'mere, kid. Bring your money."

Gaara turned back to the two men, sauntering out towards them. He produced the handful of bills and held them out to the dealers. When the younger man reached for them, Gaara jerked the bills away. "Let's see the murky green first. I don't want to get three steps from here and find out I've been sold a bag of tarragon."

"Heh. Whatever kid," the old man muttered. He fished around under his vest and produced a small waxed paper packet. He opened the packet and sprinkled out a small amount of dried leaves, holding them up to the moonlight for Gaara to see. Gaara peered at it appraisingly and nodded. The old man put it back in the package. Gaara handed over the cash, and received the little packet. Both sides of the transaction pocketed their gains.

"Pleasure doing business with you, kid. Pleasant dreams." The younger man said.

"Yeah, whatever." Gaara replied. He dipped into the alleyway where Sakura was waiting. He made the hand signal for 'let's go'. She nodded.

Once again she was following him through the darkened streets, over rooftops, through trees, down empty boulevards and beyond. She followed him all the way to the temple complex. He led her right to the Six Tails' walls before stopping, ducking behind the garden walls to the shadows.

"Here you go, Sakura," he held out his hand to her. Sakura put out her hand, and was unsurprised to detect the feel of waxed paper in his hand. "Don't show it to anyone except for the slug princess, and whatever you do, don't ingest any of it. That stuff's habit forming." His voice was firm.

"I know. I'm a healer, remember? Tsunade has me studying advanced herbalism."

He raised his eyebrow at that, and remarked., "not bad." It was a subject that was usually not taught until one was an acolyte in the Six Tails' temple, and had been for a few years.

"How do _you_ know so much about it? You were pretty good down there," she commented, slightly acidly. He _had_ performed well. A little _too_ well. Sakura wasn't sure she liked the implications of his expertise in conducting drug transactions.

"I'm not a user. You'd know it if I was. My eyes would be bloodshot, not just dark-rimmed. And my tongue would be stained greenish-gray. Not to mention my teeth would be rotting. I don't like to sleep, Sakura. Geddys leaf has no temptation for me. I know so much about it, because I make it my business to know about things, little Cherry Blossom," he said, cryptically.

She snorted, both at his ridiculous claim and his overdone mysteriousness, pocketing the packet. Doesn't like to sleep? How weird. They stood in silence for a few moments, as if neither of them really knew what to say.

She should probably thank him. That would be the polite thing to do. He'd helped her out, and she doubted she would have succeeded in retrieving the geddys leaf if he hadn't been there.

"I just wanted to say—,"

"Well Sakura, it's been—"

They both started talking at the same time, and broke off at the same time. Then they both chuckled. Gaara grinned, a genuine smile, and one of the few she'd seen him make.

"You first," he said.

"I wanted to say thank you, Gaara. You really helped me out tonight," she smiled slightly.

"It was nothing," he replied. Then he grinned at her and held out his hand. Sakura stared at it for a moment before remembering that she still had the blood lily. _Her_ blood lily. She flushed and produced the flower, placing it in his open palm. He smiled, again, a beautiful, genuine smile; and slipped it back into his flak jacket.

"It's been a pleasure. I'll see you around, Sakura. I'll see you on the arena sands, again," he said, giving her a casual wave, and leapt off into the darkness.

Sakura frowned slightly. See her on the arena sands again, would he? She didn't know how she felt about that. She didn't want to go back to the sands again if she didn't have to. She sighed. Or did Gaara think she was so depraved that she needed to go repent _that_ often? But then he'd joked about that very thing earlier.

He sure was an odd duck. Handsome, smooth, obviously knowledgeable about too many things, waaaaay too sophisticated, bred to power and privilege and clearly full of himself; he was also competent. He was an intriguing person, and Sakura found herself hoping that she'd run into him again after all.

Then she thought about boy-crazy Ino and grimaced. Sakura did _not_ want to end up on disciplinary duty, like Ino had already once gotten for kissing a boy and getting caught at it. Nor did she want to slaver after any pretty looking guy that glanced her way. Although, Gaara _was_ good looking.

It had been somewhat nerve-wracking, watching him in action getting the geddys leaf. She was relieved that he'd helped her; she had no idea how to access the underworld. But she had wondered there for a moment if he'd blown it and they'd lost their chance at the leaf. Somehow, Gaara came through. It was strange that an acolyte of the battle-god had knowledge about that kind of thing. All the same, she was relieved. Without him, she might have had to report to Tsunade in _failure_.

She made her way into the temple, conscious of the little packet of contraband among the more legitimate goods she had acquired today. At least if she was caught with it she had Tsunade's list, which had been signed.

She reached her cell, lighting the small reading lamp and putting the stuff she'd bought in the small woven sea-grass chest at the foot of her bed in which she kept her few actual possessions. She'd get the rest of it tomorrow.

Before turning out the light, she pulled her devotional book from underneath her pillow and closed her eyes, opening the volume to a random page. Her finger traced down the page, stopping. She opened her eyes.

_The gods have decreed that all acts committed by mortals may be forgiven save the crime of apostasy. Mortals shall have the solace of battle in the houses of the holy to repent of their offenses against the gods. Those who seek absolution shall go to the sands without shame, for they shall be cleansed before the gods of all fault. _

This method never failed to come up with something interesting. Almost always, Sakura had come to passages that were directly relevant to whatever situation she found herself in. This was no exception. She reread the passage and breathed a sigh of relief. She really _had_ been forgiven. She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling free in the solitude of her cell to let the tears run at last. Hiro was with the gods now, and the gods had forgiven her.

She read a few more passages from the dog-eared devotional; going for old familiar favourites of hers. Finally, she decided enough was enough and she stowed the volume once more under her pillow, extinguished her lamp, and went to sleep.

Without morning duties at the hospital, Sakura let herself sleep in. She woke sometime after dawn; far later than she was accustomed, when a beam of light from the slit in the wall finally drifted over her eyes. She stirred restlessly and sat up, blinking. Oh, right. Tsunade's tasks.

The young novice yawned and stretched, getting out of her bed and performing a few wake-up stretches. She would go back into the city today and get the rest of Tsunade's list. Even though she didn't know exactly where to get some of it, she was confident in her ability to find out. The only truly challenging item had been gotten last night, with Gaara helping her.

She donned clean clothes and grabbed her list and pouches. At least Tsunade had anticipated the cost of the materials. Even with the geddys leaf and its high cost, Sakura was fairly sure that she had enough to cover the rest of the list. If not, she _did_ have a little money of her own she could use.

She slipped from her cell and headed to the refectory, where quite naturally breakfast had already been mostly consumed by the dedicated who rose before the sun. She was able to scrape together some food from the remains, but generally she who rose last ate poorest. Oh well. One of the perks of going into the city was being able to eat all kinds of interesting food sold by street vendors. She was a medic and quite able to take care of any inadvertent food poisoning. She might just have to eat some of that deep fried eel on a stick that smelled so good when she was shopping yesterday. And definitely some dango.

Sure enough, Sakura managed to find everything on the list, although some of it was pricier than she had anticipated after all. The double terminated quartz and the obsidian sphere ate a lot of her stash of cash. But it was a triumphant Sakura who returned to the temple compound a full hour before the supper bell rang. She fetched the rest of the goods from her tiny cell (including the tiny packet of geddys leaf), and headed for her mentor's office.

Arriving, she knocked tentatively on the stone door. Again, she heard the muffled "enter," and pushed open the door.

"Ah, Sakura. I wasn't expecting you back just yet. Let's see how you did." Tsunade said, steepling her fingers as her apprentice sat in front of her. "Did you have any trouble?" Her mentor smiled, expectantly.

"Not really." Sakura said.

"Did you fill the list?"

"Yes" Sakura replied. She began to pull out objects from her packs, placing them on Tsunade's desk. Tsunade developed a little half-smile as the collection grew and grew. Finally, Sakura had spread out all of the objects and herbs. The last thing out of her pack was the little packet of geddys leaf. She put that gently in front of Tsunade.

The older woman reached for it, opening the packet and giving the herbs a sniff. She closed it again and put it down, and looked at Sakura with a smile. "I'm interested in knowing how you got this."

"It was on the list…" Sakura hesitated.

Tsunade smiled a little more predatorily. "I know. How did you get it."

Sakura blushed. "Um, down at the docks. I had some help from a friend."

"Oh _really_?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Novices are not permitted into the city except by special dispensation."

"He's an acolyte of the battle god. He can go into the city."

"_He_, hmm?" Tsunade gave her a hard look. Sakura blushed again, but nodded. "Which temple is _he_ from?"

"The One Tail's." Sakura said quietly.

Tsunade gave a harsh bark of laughter. "The One Tailed Tanuki of battle, huh? Well, if _that's _the kind of thing they're teaching their acolytes, you should be grateful to be in the Six Tail's house."

Sakura shrugged. "I got the leaf."

"You certainly did." Tsunade declared. "This will make some very potent healing medicine. Some of which will no doubt be used on the One Tail's clergy," her mentor's face relaxed into a smile. "Well done. Pass."

'_Pass_?' Well, apparently this had indeed been a test. Sakura nodded politely. "Thank you."

"I honestly didn't expect you to be able to procure the geddys leaf, help or no. You proved me wrong. Good job."

Sakura blushed again at that and murmured, "a good kunoichi uses whatever resources are at her disposal to complete a task."

Tsunade grinned again. "Exactly. I'm proud of you," her mentor stood. "Now, there's a little matter about your reward."

Reward? Sakura hadn't been expecting a reward. But then again, she hadn't been expecting this to be a test either. She raised one pink eyebrow at her teacher.

"You have the rest of today and tomorrow off to do with as you will, and that includes going into the city if you wish. The day after that, however, I expect you back in the children's ward. Got that?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Sakura said. This amounted to two and a half days off, what with today's excursion into the city. She knew what she was going to do with tomorrow's day off. She wouldn't go back into the city; after spending a day and a half there she was sick of the crowds. No, instead, she would see if she could go to the training grounds and get some taijutsu practice in. Maybe Lee had some time off or could get clearance to practice with her. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade."

"Oh pooh," Tsunade said, waving a hand. "You did a good job. Go enjoy your reward. The supper bell is about to go off and if you want any of the food from the refectory, you'd better hurry before the ravening hoards beat you there," her mentor held out the signed city pass.

Sakura grinned and stood, accepting the pass, and bowing formally to her teacher. She excused herself and exited, heading for the refectory.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is, I hope, a welcome break from the incessant mary sues and high school fics :)**

**I think I should clarify a few things about the clergy. Clearly I don't want to tell too much because I would prefer for the story to gradually bring you the whole picture, but I will give you this. The clergy is made up of ninjas. Ninjas are typically chakra users, but may also be orphans or other children given over to the clergy who have learned to do the non-chakra types of ninjutsu. That said, the clergy of the Six Tails often let their combat abilities slide in order to focus on their healing, and because many feel that it is contrary to the nature of a healer to injure another person. This is not universal; hence Sakura's desire to keep her combat skills shart is considered unusual but certainly not wrong. **

**The heirarchy is as follows:**

**Initiates - generally children under the age of 13 who are trained communally by all the temples.**

**Novices - children and youth 13 to 20 years of age who have been dedicated to a particular temple but have not yet completed their pilgrimage (a rite of passage).**

**Acolytes - youths aged 16 to 25 who have completed their pilgrimage. These youths are given additional training and still take classes.**

**Priests - members of the clergy who have completed their final training and are considered full participants of that temple. In this category are a number of sub-heirarchies including specialists and individuals who head up specific departments or domains within a temple.**

**Head Priest/Priestesses - leaders of the temples that are not the head temple of a particular god.**

**High Priest/Priestesses - ultimate human authority for a particular temple. Most gods choose their own high priest or priestess. These are usually very favoured mortals. **

**There are also special cases that come along every now and then, such as the saints, but that will be demonstrated more in the story itself.  
**

**Enjoy this latest chapter.**

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Chapter 4

Tsunade was exactly right, Sakura thought. If she came late to the refectory, she was unlikely to get anything good. She made it there just as the bells were ringing to signal the supper meal, and joined the line. Getting her food (stir fry beef, tonight, not bad), she looked around at the tables and spotted Hinata and Ino together. They gave her a wave and she came over.

"Forehead!" Ino greeted her. "How was the city?"

"Good," Sakura said. "It _was_ a test."

"Ohhh?" Ino asked. "Did you pass?"

"Yep." Sakura replied, and then paused to shovel food into her mouth. It was unladylike but she was hungry.

"You went into the city? On a test? What did you have to do?" Hinata asked. The shy, quiet Hyūga novice was a good friend of Sakura. She was of a hereditary line as well, the Hyūga family was and old and venerable shinobi family. Most of them were sanctimonious assholes, but Hinata was almost terminally nice. Sakura was glad she was in the Six Tails' priesthood, poor little Hinata was too gentle to be in some of the other houses. She'd blossomed here, opening up and losing her stutter nearly completely, except for when she was very nervous.

"Lady Tsunade wanted me to go into the city and fetch about 30 different things. One of which was an illegal drug," Sakura said, in between bites.

Both Ino and Hinata goggled.

"An illegal drug? Which one?" Ino demanded.

"R-r-really? Illegal?" Hinata looked a little wan.

"Yup!" Sakura grinned. "Geddys leaf. It's also called 'murky green' on the street, I didn't know that. I probably wouldn't have been able to get it – heh, even Tsunade didn't think I would, but I had help."

"Help?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, there's this guy I met over at the battle god's—," Sakura began, only to be cut off by Ino, who came instantly alert at the word 'guy'.

"Forehead!" She exclaimed, "_Dish!_"

"A boy?" Hinata asked, blushing.

"Uhh, Ino, it's not _like_ that!" Sakura protested.

"Whatever, Forehead. Tell us about him. Is he good looking?"

Sakura's blush telegraphed that he was. Very much so. Ino whooped, causing people nearby to stop eating and look over at their table.

"_Ino, people are staring!_" Sakura hissed. Ino slapped her hand over her mouth and hunkered down conspiratorially.

"Tell us about him. Now." The blonde commanded.

"Well, he's 17, and he's an acolyte already." Sakura began. "I think he's hereditary—uh, no offense Hinata."

"None taken." Hinata smiled.

"He's taller than me and he's skinny, but he's got that wiry look, you know, like Lee and Shikamaru?" Sakura continued, mentioning two of their academy mates.

"Yeah," Ino said, blushing at the mention of Shikamaru. "Go on." _Aha!_ Sakura thought. So it was Shikamaru, eh?

"He's got red hair, the colour of blood lilies, a tattoo on his forehead, and I can't decide whether his eyes are blue or green." Sakura went on. She remembered those captivating eyes, beneath his dark-rimmed lids. He'd said he wasn't fond of sleeping. Maybe that's why his eyes had such dark outlines. It hadn't detracted from his attractiveness in the slightest. If anything it had enhanced the pale flawlessness of his skin. She found herself blushing. All right, Gaara was good looking, and Sakura was silly for letting this affect her.

"Are you _blushing_, Forehead? You're blushing. Oh my gods!" Ino whispered loudly. Sakura blushed a little darker red.

"Shut up, Ino."

"So, tall, redheaded, and obviously _cute_ or you wouldn't be blushing like that." Ino said. "Anything else?"

"Uh…" Sakura said. "He's got _amazing_ chakra. And he's a good shinobi. He led me on a pretty good chase across the rooftops to get to the docks."

"You went to the docks? At night? Weren't you scared?" Hinata asked, sinking further into her chair in sympathetic nervousness.

"Not really, you know Tsunade has me on advanced combat too. We're shinobi, Hinata. I should be able to fend off some street thugs." Sakura pointed out. If she couldn't keep away a petty thief or pervert, she hardly deserved to call herself a kunoichi.

"I g-g-g-guess so." Hinata said, flushing.

"Oh don't worry, Hinata. I was fine." Sakura said. "Besides, Gaara's the battle god's. That means his training is as good or better than ours, you know."

"_Gaara_, huh? I've never heard of him. Is he new?" Ino asked.

"I think so." Sakura grinned back. "He said he came from the desert, not that long ago."

"From the desert? Some kind of hot shot, is he?" Ino crinkled up her nose.

"I think so," Sakura grinned back, "he was kind of an arrogant brat," she admitted.

Ino snorted. Hinata gave a small smile, half covered by her hand.

"So… Forehead… do you like him?" Ino grinned wolfishly at her.

Sakura put her palms on the table and glared indignantly at the blonde. "I don't think that's any of your business," she said.

"Of _course_ it is, Forehead." Ino remarked. "Now dish."

Sakura sighed. "I don't know yet, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy but he's a little…" she scrunched up her nose, "irreverent I guess."

Ino snorted. "Is that all?"

Hinata pushed her fingers together and spoke up. "Irreverence isn't becoming in an acolyte of any of the tailed gods."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed.

"What did he do that's so irreverent?" Ino asked avidly.

"Well…" Sakura began. "He ate from the offering pile."

"So? So do _we_." Ino grinned.

"I don't know about you, but _I_ usually wait for it to be received first." Sakura said. Ino laughed. "_And_ he took my blood lily."

"_Your_ blood lily. Didn't you give it as an offering?" Ino demanded.

Sakura blushed again. "Well, yeah…"

"Then it's the _god's_ blood lily, not yours." Ino pointed out.

"I still don't know why, of all the blood lilies in the pile, he had to pull out mine. That's weird." Sakura squirmed.

"Was it near the top?" Hinata asked.

"Well, yeah." Sakura admitted.

"Maybe he just grabbed the easiest one to get, then." Hinata supplied.

"Maybe." Sakura didn't think it was likely, for some reason. Gaara's selection of her blood lily seemed carry with it some additional weight she didn't fully understand.

"So are you going to see him again?" Ino leaned over the table and grinned wolfishly at Sakura.

"I don't know. He said I would but unless he comes in for a healing or I go to the battle god's temple for something, I don't see it happening." Sakura said.

Hinata giggled at that. "Well if anyone tall, redheaded and tattooed comes in on my watch I'll refer him to you," she promised. Ino laughed, and Sakura blushed and smiled.

"I'll do the same. But why would you go to the battle god's temple?" Ino asked.

"Well to pray. And if I get disciplinary duty." Sakura said. She wasn't going to admit her predilection for fighting in the arena to Ino.

"Well you'll get disciplinary duty if you're caught with him." Ino snorted.

"I doubt that Tsunade would send me over to heal the arena losers if I got caught with someone from the One Tail's house." Sakura commented dryly.

Hinata giggled.

"You're probably right, but you could always try it. I bet he won't complain if you kiss him." Ino suggested

"_Ino_!" Sakura hissed, blushing. The pink-hair sighed. Sometimes her blonde friend was just too much.

"Well, you _could_. I don't think there's any boy who'd mind that." Ino said, grinning slyly.

"We're still under 18." Sakura muttered.

"You'll be 17 soon. Surely that year won't matter _that_ much." Ino said.

"You're just saying that because you want to kiss Shikamaru." Sakura accused. Ino flushed bright red and Sakura knew she'd hit target. Hinata looked embarrassed for both of them.

"Be _quiet_!" Ino hissed. Sakura rolled her green eyes. So it was ok when it was anyone else's gossip but Ino's. Ah well. She finished her food and stared at her empty plate.

"Are you back in the children's ward tomorrow?" Hinata asked.

"No, Lady Tsunade has told me to take tomorrow off. I think I might try to find out if Lee is free and train with him." Ino wrinkled her nose when Sakura mentioned Lee. The pink-haired teen noticed. "What? There isn't anyone our age better at taijutsu than Rock Lee. You know that, Ino. Besides he's been a friend since our initiate days."

"A 'friend', yeah, Forehead, he totally has the hots for you." Ino said. "Besides he's so _weird_ with that 'flower of youthfulness' crap he's always spouting." The blonde shuddered. Hinata giggled quietly again.

"He gets that from Might Guy." The Hyūga girl said, smiling. Rock Lee and his teacher were something of a punch line among many of the novices their age.

"He does _not_, Ino. He's my friend and nothing more. And yeah, the 'flower of youthfulness' stuff is goofy but he's a good teacher and sparring partner." Sakura defended her green-clad friend.

"Whatever, Forehead. I don't know why you would waste a perfectly good day off getting hot and sweaty and running laps around the temple compound with Rock Lee. Just you watch, he's going to challenge you to 1,000 laps or something else ridiculously 'youthful'." Ino smirked.

"Probably," Sakura agreed cheerfully. "But that's ok. It's good for me to train. I've been letting my combat studies slide."

"If you say so." Snorted Ino.

"I'm glad we don't have to do combat studies if we don't want to." Hinata commented. Sakura was glad too, for Hinata's sake. The Hyūga family was known for its emphasis on combat success. Before she'd been accepted into the Six Tails' priesthood, Hinata had been under intense pressure to succeed in combat studies. A little _too_ intense. It was made worse by the fact that another Hyūga in their generation, her cousin Neji, was something of a prodigy in the combat arts. Hinata could hold her own against any non shinobi and most shinobi, but next to a combat genius like Neji, she was nothing. And her family had made their displeasure known.

"I want to go study now, I think." Sakura said, again looking at her empty plate.

"Oh Forehead, only _you_ would study on a day off." Ino snorted.

"Whatever, Ino-Pig." Sakura said. "I'll be at the library."

"Can I come with you?" Hinata asked.

"Of course, Hinata." Sakura said.

"Have fun, bookworms. I'm going to go to the girls' baths and soak in the hot pool for a while." Ino announced cheerfully. The girls gathered up their dishes and brought their trays to the belt that took the soiled dishes to the kitchen for washing. Sakura considered that punishment duty might easily consist of a weeks of kitchen duties, which were never pleasant, as easily as it could consist of healing up the failures in the arena.

Sakura and Hinata spent a few hours together in the library, reading books on anatomy and herbalism. Sakura, fresh from last night's adventures, was looking up the medicinal uses of geddys leaf and other illicit drugs. She'd known it was capable of making very powerful healing potions, and she was surprised to discover that most illicit drugs had powerful healing or poison curing effects when combined with the right other substances using the right methods. They were illegal largely because it was far easier to abuse them than to make them useful. She was grateful for Tsunade's test, because she probably wouldn't have been interested enough to look up this information on her own if it wasn't for her adventure acquiring the geddys leaf.

The next day she wandered over to the Eight Tails' compound, hoping to run into Rock Lee. It didn't take her long after walking past the wall before she spotted him. He was clad in green and running laps _on_ the wall, following close behind his teacher, the high priest of the Eight Tailed Ox of Hard Work, Might Guy.

As he leaped over the gate, he spotted Sakura, and immediately screeched to a halt. Sakura was slightly amazed that he didn't fall off the wall. Despite the fact that most shinobi had chakra, Rock Lee had very little. But he was well placed as an acolyte (yes, an acolyte) of Hard Work.

"Sakura! The most beautiful flower of youth at the house of healing! I am very glad to see you this morning!" Lee exclaimed as he jumped from the wall down to greet her. Sakura giggled. Lee was sure over the top.

"Hi Lee!" She said "I've got the day off."

"How wonderful! Did you perhaps come here to train? Lord Guy has introduced me to the most youthful training program I have yet encountered! You can join in if you wish!" Lee declared. Sakura wondered if he was going to blink yet. That was always one of the unnerving things about Lee; his intense, unblinking stare, coupled with his oh-so-sincere expression and his very very bushy eyebrows. Some people found him creepy. Sakura found him very funny and considered him a good friend.

"Yeah I came to train with you, Lee. At least in the morning." Sakura admitted.

"Sakura! I am glad to see that Lady Tsunade values your physical training well. Are you here to join Lee and me in our youthfulness training?" Might Guy had completed one full circuit of the wall while she and Lee were speaking. He spotted them and leaped down to join them.

"Yeah, sure." Sakura said. She liked Lord Guy too. Lee was like his understudy. Both were perfectly suited to the Eight Tails' service. She covered her mouth to stifle the laugh that bubbled up to the surface at their antics, it would be inappropriate in the extreme to laugh at the high priest of any god. But these two were just too funny. "I want to go make my offering first, though, ok?"

"You can make your offering 50 laps on the wall!" Lord Guy declared. Sakura did laugh.

"Ok, Lord Guy!" She agreed cheerfully, following the two green-clad people onto the wall with a well executed leap. She started racing after them, desperate not to get lapped. Both of them would tease her mercilessly if they managed to encircle her at all.

A half hour later, they'd completed 50 laps, and Sakura felt like she was going to fall over. Lee and Guy looked barely winded. The god of hard work's dedicated servants, certainly. Sakura felt weak in the knees.

"You did good, Sakura. I will tell Lady Tsunade that you burn with the fires of youthfulness and hard work!" Lord Guy told her.

Sakura nodded weakly. At least Tsunade would know that she was making good use of her time off. Lord Guy went back into the temple, and both she and Lee watched his green spandex-clad form retreat into the Eight Tails' domain.

"Sakura, do you want to go spar at the training grounds? I have been over to the battle god's temple and learning new taijutsu moves! I would like to teach you!" Lee said. Sakura gave an exhausted smile. Lee only ever spoke in questions and exclamations. And naturally, he'd learned something new and wanted to show it off.

"I do. Let me catch my breath first, and maybe get some water."

"Oh of course, Sakura, how very cruel of me not to offer you water when you have been training very hard with us! Please, wait here while I get you some water!" Lee bowed to her twice in rapid succession and ran off into the temple. Sakura leaned against the wall and slid down with a puff-cheeked exhalation of breath, glad to be still for just a moment. A moment was all she had before Lee came dashing out carrying a sealed water skin. Sakura watched him run, glad that it _was_ sealed, because he would have watered the cobblestones instead of her if it wasn't.

She stood again as he arrived, gratefully accepting the skin. "Thank you, Lee," she said, before uncorking it and downing most of the water in one go. She passed it to Lee, who finished it off before wiping his mouth with a satisfied 'Ahh'.

"Shall we train, Sakura?" Lee asked.

"Let's!" Sakura agreed. They raced to the training fields near the One Tail's temple. Lee won, naturally, but Sakura put up a good fight. They skidded to a halt on the sand. Unlike the sand inside the Tanuki's temple, this hadn't been brought from the desert. This sand came from Miyajima's shores, and was definitely not sacred.

There weren't too many people on the training grounds right now, so Lee and Sakura were able to find some space for themselves. They first spent some time warming up with a shuriken-throwing contest, which somehow escalated to a contest of 'throw anything you can find that you can fit in your hand', with Lee and Sakura throwing chunks of wood, stones, flowers, and any other random objects they could find. It was good practice, even if it was a bit silly when Lee hefted a log nearly as large as himself at the target. Sakura laughed so hard she fell down.

"Are you ready to learn some new taijutsu, Sakura?" Lee asked, standing over her and staring down at her with his wide black eyes. Sakura got a hold of herself, stopping her choking laughter and standing up.

"Yeah," she said. "Show me."

Lee took a ready stance, legs apart and his defensive hand palm out, and his guard hand near his hip. Sakura pulled over the log he'd tossed and sat on it, watching as Lee went through a complex routine once, twice, three times; and then she joined in on the fourth. Lee stopped mid-way to correct something she did wrong, and they started all over again.

Before an hour was out, Lee had her doing the routine fairly well. After that, they switched to sparring. Sparring with Lee was always interesting. Sakura usually lost, but she didn't mind. Nearly everyone lost against Lee. She always learned something new, and usually got to practice something he'd just taught her.

Partway through their sparring match, Sakura had the odd feeling of someone watching her. She glanced in the direction and was somewhat surprised to see Gaara, leaning against a post with that familiar arms-crossed stance, watching her and Lee spar. He met her eyes across the training grounds, and Sakura gave him a quick wave of acknowledgement before having to turn her attention back to dodging Lee. Heavens help her if he ever took off his weights and fought without handicaps. He was a difficult enough opponent as it was. Sakura had no doubt that her green-clad friend would end up either the next high priest of the Eight Tails or would end up otherwise highly placed in the Ox's priesthood.


	5. Chapter 5

**I think you guys will like this chapter.**

**It's funny, I'd heard from other writers about the phenomenon of characters doing things you don't expect. On the face of it, it seems ridiculous. After all, _you're_ writing the story, how could anything in it do anything but _your_ will? But believe it or not, it happens. And Gaara totally jumped the gun in this story. Poor Sakura.

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Chapter 5

"Sakura, what has you so distracted?" Lee asked her suddenly, after he'd flipped her into the sand.

"What?" Sakura asked, feeling a little dazed. She'd landed harder than she'd intended.

"For the last several minutes you have not dodged as youthfully as you usually do! You have become bruised!" Lee declared.

Sakura got up, brushing off the sand. "I'm, sorry Lee. There's a friend of mine watching is all."

"A friend is watching? Why do you not invite her to join us in our youthful spar?" Lee asked, looking around for someone who he wouldn't see, considering he was probably looking for another girl.

"Uh…" Sakura hesitated. "That redheaded guy over there," she gestured. "He can spar if he wants. He's the battle god's."

Lee turned his very wide eyes over to where Gaara was still lounging against a post. "Oh! I don't recognize him! Is he new?"

"I think so, fairly. He's from the desert temple. I think he must be related to the high priest of the One Tail," she said.

"Well, why don't we ask him to spar?" Lee suggested.

"Sure." Sakura agreed. Both of the two young shinobi walked over to where Gaara was leaning. Gaara kept his weird, pale eyes fixed on them as they approached, not blinking that Sakura could see. But then it was hard to tell with those very dark rims around his eyes.

"Hello! My name is Rock Lee! I have come to invite you to join us in our youthful spar!" Lee practically shouted.

Gaara's mouth twisted in a smirk. "Gaara," he replied. "I'll spar with you."

"Then both of you should take me on!" Lee declared, loudly.

Gaara gave Sakura a quick glance. She smiled.

"Weights or no weights?" She asked.

"That depends on how youthfully you spar!" Lee said. Gaara shot her another slightly puzzled look. Sakura just smiled.

"Sure," she grinned.

"Is he crazy?" Gaara asked her in a low, quiet voice as they followed the green-clad shinobi to the sparring grounds.

"Oh, probably," Sakura replied cheerfully. "But he's _really_ good at taijutsu."

Gaara made a slightly amused-sounding grunt.

"I'm serious. He taught me practically everything I know." It was true. Although she'd had basic instruction from the teachers in the academy like everything else, Rock Lee had been so far ahead of the classes that she'd learned more from him. The no doubt future champion of hard work had taken her under his wing and taught her more than the teachers of the academy ever could.

Gaara looked slightly mollified at that.

"What are your rules?" The redheaded youth asked, once they'd reached the centre of the training ground.

"Taijutsu only! No weapons or chakra!" Lee said.

"Ok. It's two against one, though." Gaara pointed out.

"I am sorry I cannot make the odds any better for you!" Lee declared. Gaara smirked at that. All three of them took up combat ready positions. Sakura and Gaara waited on Lee's signal. At his beckoning palm, both shinobi attacked.

Lee really _was_ good. Possibly even the best at their age level. He held his own against two assailants for a good 15 minutes before he had to take off his weights, and it wasn't pressure from Sakura that tipped him over the edge. Gaara fought with skill and intensity that surprised her, despite her certitude that he was a hereditary member of the battle god's priesthood. He'd clearly had some above-standard training in the desert. He matched his attacks effortlessly to hers, with perfect timing, using her as a distraction wherever possible to get in his own attacks. Sakura found it a humbling experience, to be so completely surpassed. She was used to it with Lee, but not with anyone else.

In 30 minutes they finally ended it in a draw, with Sakura almost dead on her feet from exhaustion. Lee and Gaara were both panting and sweating, which was a state she had seldom seen Lee in, and suspected was just as rare for Gaara.

"You're good. Why are you not in the One Tail's dedicated?" Gaara asked, straightening up, though still breathing hard.

"Hard work has got me to where I am today! It is only natural that I would dedicate myself to the Ox of hard work!" Lee shouted. Sakura sighed and allowed herself to fall into the soft sand.

"Fair enough. But if you ever reconsider you'll have a place of honour in the Tanuki's priesthood." Gaara stated.

"What are you, a recruiter for the One Tail?" Sakura asked him, from the sand.

Gaara smirked, looking down at her. "Only of the best. You should do your pilgrimage."

"Maybe next year," she said. He smirked again.

"Gaara is right! It is best to do one's pilgrimage while the flower of youth blossoms so bright and strong! You should do your pilgrimage as soon as possible, Sakura!" Lee put in.

"I'll do my pilgrimage when I'm good and ready, Lee."

"You're probably ready now, you know." Gaara said.

"Oh shut up," she glared at him from the sand and he smirked. "I am ready when _I_ say I'm ready," she muttered. Ok, so she was nervous about the pilgrimage. That was normal. Hinata was too. But then, Hinata was nervous about everything. Ino was, though, and Ino was about the most brazen girl Sakura knew.

Lee stared down at her with wide, concerned eyes, and Gaara continued to smirk. "Are you alright Sakura? You have been lying down for a while! Perhaps it is time to do some laps!" Lee yelled.

"Uh," Sakura reacted with immediate alarm, shooting to her feet, sand going everywhere. "I'm alright!" She exclaimed.

"Then we must run 100 laps around this field to be sure!" Lee declared.

Sakura almost fainted. Gaara grinned. Then both of them were running after Lee, who had taken off to get started on his 100 laps.

As they ran, Gaara fell in beside Sakura. "Where did you meet this guy?"

"Academy. He was in the year ahead of me," she replied through puffs.

"He's crazy," was Gaara's opinion.

"Crazy like an ox," she replied. He laughed.

Finishing the 100 laps, they slowed to a halt. Sakura's stomach growled audibly. Both Lee and Gaara looked at her, and she blushed.

"Oh no! The lunch bell has no doubt already rung! My refectory will have nothing but scraps!" Lee said.

"It'll be the same at mine. You'd be surprised how much healers can pack in." Sakura scrunched up her nose.

"Hn." Gaara said. "It is the same in the One Tail's temple too. This is another reason you should do your pilgrimage. You can go into the city to eat if you should be so unlucky as to make it to the refectories late."

"Oh, I have a pass today," she said. Both young men looked at her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Street food beckons." Gaara said. Sakura almost choked on a laugh. "What?" Gaara asked, somewhat defensively.

"Street food?" She asked, incredulous.

"Well, yeah. Are you going to _honestly_ tell me you don't like dango? I'm particularly fond of fried gizzard on a stick," he said. "Besides, if any of us get indigestion, you can heal us right up, Sakura," he smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I can get curry rice on a stick!" Lee said. "Sakura, why don't we go together to Koko's Curry Hut?"

"You'd be surprised what you can find deep fried on a stick." Gaara remarked. "But if you don't want to come, you can go forage for yourself and _Sakura and I_ will go find a stall with something tasty."

Suddenly the companionable air between the two young men seemed to frost over. Sakura was slightly taken aback at the sudden change in mood, and vaguely aware that this had something to do with her. She didn't think it was her _fault_, per se, but… was Lee… _jealous_? And, what was with Gaara? Maybe Ino was right, and Lee _did_ have the hots for her. But… Gaara? She looked from one to the other, wondering what she was going to do about this and feeling acutely uncomfortable.

"Guys," she sighed. "There might not be rice on a stick, Lee, but there are booths that sell curry rice. I passed by some yesterday. Let's all go into the city."

The two young men exchanged one more frosty glare with each other and looked at her simultaneously. Sakura almost took a step backwards at the sudden intense gazes. Between Lee's permanent googly-eyed stare and Gaara's dark-rimmed pale eyes, it was a bit much.

"Whatever you say, Sakura! The fire of your youthfulness burns bright, and you have good ideas as always!" Lee said. Gaara gave a slight nod. Sakura breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Whatever that weird thing was that just went on between these two, this seemed to defuse it. They left for the temple compound gates (even Lee seeming content to walk after all their training), Sakura somehow ending up stuck between Lee and Gaara as they walked. Both boys were taller than her, and she was still aware of an uneasy air between them. An uneasy air of which she was _right_ at the centre. It felt like standing in the eye of a storm, where the calm part was.

Down in the city they found food, with Lee buying curried rice and Gaara buying various foods on a stick, and Sakura going for the dango. She really couldn't resist the dango. They found a table in the open market where there were a number of food stalls, and sat down. Once again, Sakura found herself flanked by Gaara and Lee. She stifled her discomfort at the antics of her two friends and tried to eat her dango in peace.

"It's very good rice, Sakura, you should try some!" Lee said suddenly, pushing his plate sideways towards her. Sakura jerked backwards and almost fell off her seat because of it.

"You should try this gizzard. It's delectable." Gaara said, and a piece of fried _something_ on a stick swung into her view. Gaara and Lee glared lightning bolts at each other _through_ her.

Sakura would have thumped her head against the table save for the fact that she would have gotten a face full of rice, gizzard, and dango. "I'm perfectly happy with my dango, thank you," she sighed, exasperated. "Would you two stop being retarded! Or do I have to deck you both?"

Both Gaara and Lee jerked and suddenly looked guilty and retracted their food. Sakura sighed again and ate another dango from the skewer in her hands. Then she became aware of the slightly admiring looks she was getting on either side, from both. She rolled her eyes and raised a forestalling hand before Lee could go off singing praises of her youthfulness. Then she glared at Gaara, who was straight-faced and solemn for a moment, before smirking at her. Her glare got harder, which only made his smirk bigger. She sighed again, and went back to her dango.

"Sakura! Are you going to train more this afternoon?" Lee finally asked, after he'd cleaned up most of the rice on his plate.

"Probably not," she admitted. "I think I might go to the library and study."

"Don't you have a day off?" Gaara asked, raising a hairless eyebrow at her.

"Yes," she answered.

"And you're going to spend it studying?" The redhead asked again.

"Sakura is almost an honorary novice of hard work!" Lee exclaimed. Sakura sighed, suspecting that this was going to spark some commentary from Gaara. She wasn't wrong.

"Hmf. She fights like a tiger, too. Maybe she's an honorary novice of battle, too!"

Sakura thumped her fists on the table, realizing too late that she'd accidentally infused chakra into her fist when it broke in two down the middle and collapsed. She blushed. Both young men were staring at her, suddenly wary.

"I'm a novice of the healing god. I'm dedicated to the Six Tailed Slug of Healing. I'm not going to go over to the battle god _or_ the god of hard work. And I'm going to go study advanced herbalism and chakra systems, because I'm going to be the best damn healer in the temple some day!" She declared.

"You could be like Saint Atenna, who was both formidable in battle, and a healer." Gaara suggested. Sakura glared at him. He gave her a cool look back.

"I'm going to the Six Tails' library," she said, standing up from the ruined table. She stared down at the shattered wood for a moment, wondering who she should reimburse for the damage. "Right after I pay for this table."

"Do not trouble yourself, Sakura! I shall pay for the table!" Lee declared.

"I'll get it." Gaara said.

"_No!_" Sakura snarled. "_I'm_ paying for it, and you two are going to _can it!_" She stomped her foot down. Lee stared at her, and Gaara was giving her a look she wasn't sure she liked. It looked… hungry. She stalked away from the destroyed table and the two staring boys and turned to look for someone in charge so she could pay for the damages.

"Ah… miss…" A small, middle aged man was giving her a nervous look, hands pressed together in supplication.

"Are you the owner of the table?" She asked.

"Errr, more or less," he said. "I maintain the food court."

"How much?" Demanded Sakura. The small man looked a little surprised. He'd clearly expected protests or refusal to pay.

"Err, it will cost 500 ryo to repair the table," he said. She fished in her pouches and found the required bills, placing them in his hands.

"I apologize, I forgot my own strength. I will try not to damage your tables in the future," she apologized. He gave her another slightly fearful look.

"Thank you, miss."

"You're welcome." Sakura replied, and stomped out of there. She was peripherally aware of both Gaara and Lee watching her go. She wondered if they'd follow her. Of course they would. As soon as she was out of line-of-sight she suppressed her chakra signature and took to the roofs. Seconds later she felt Lee's weak chakra and Gaara's blaze split in different directions in pursuit of her. She ducked into an alleyway and behind a trash bin just in time to see Gaara sail over her position.

She was a little miffed at them both, with that sudden rivalry. Seriously, boys were stupid. They'd got along just fine when they were sparring, and then all of a sudden they were both acting like possessive, jealous goons. She sighed. Ino was surely right. Lee had the hots for her, and Gaara was clearly interested in being more than just her friend.

She sighed again, blushing. This was vaguely depressing. She had no interest in Lee as anything more than a friend – he was just way too… Lee. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about him. Sooner or later he'd try to confess his feelings for her, and she'd be in the awkward situation of trying to tell him she wasn't interested without hurting him too much. She hated to see her friends in pain.

And Gaara, well, he was too sexy for his own good. She was underage, though. She had a year and three months before she could pursue any kind of romance without risking punishment for shirking her education, whatever her hormones might insist. She suspected that he would only view her reluctance as a challenge and try harder. She wondered how long he was going to be in Miyajima City and the temples here. Surely he would have to go back to his desert sooner or later.

She attempted to sense around for any familiar chakra signatures, preparing to leave her bolt hole and go to the library in peace. It had been about ten minutes. Surely they'd headed straight for the temple when they couldn't catch her in the city. Time enough for her to give them the slip.

She realized how wrong she was when she nearly walked into Gaara, who was calmly waiting right outside her hiding place. She 'eep'ed and flailed, and his hand came out to steady her. He smirked, green-blue eyes amused. Sakura blushed.

"I saw you go overhead!" She said.

"You saw my sand clone go overhead. My sand clone saw you and reported back to me," he said. Sand clone? If he was able to make clones of himself that advanced, he was more skilled than she originally thought. She felt an irrational surge of annoyance. He was just too skilled. Taijutsu fit to keep up with Lee, chakra that could probably stun opponents on its own, and advanced ninjutsu to boot.

"Why were you chasing me?" She demanded.

"Why were you running?" Gaara quirked a brow at her. He still hadn't removed his hand from her shoulder, she noted.

"Because I wanted to get back to the library in _peace_," she grumbled.

"Peace is overrated," he smirked. She sighed, and his mouth twisted into more of a grin. Yep, he saw her as a challenge. And of course that meant he'd never leave her alone now. Part of her wasn't sure she wanted him to leave her alone.

"Not to me," she said.

"I think I can change your mind," he said, and there was an undercurrent to his voice that made her breath catch. Gods _damn_ him for affecting her like this. The latent attraction that she'd felt seeing him two days ago in the battle god's shrine was _not_ going away. It was getting worse. She was suddenly aware that there was very little space between him. Even with his flak jacket and the long-tailed maroon jacket she'd noticed he seemed to wear constantly, she could feel the body heat radiating off him. Her heart was beating way too fast, all of a sudden.

And then he leaned in, hot lips closing on hers, and she froze. She'd never been kissed before. She didn't know what to do, and she wasn't supposed to be doing this, and Gaara's lips on hers felt _divine_ in a way she hadn't anticipated, and, and, and…

Both his hands came around her to steady her, and she became aware that she was clinging to him for support. His low chuckle sent a thrill through her spine, and the vibration of the sound on her lips almost made her whimper. His mouth moved again, and she felt teeth on her bottom lip, tugging, and then he sucked that lip and she _did_ whimper.

Rather like on the arena floor, the world narrowed to just the two of them. Unlike on the battlefield, Sakura was caught flat-footed. There were just too many sensations flooding in to her at once, and all of them were too good. Gaara's kiss got more insistent and she began to respond, hesitantly, echoing his motions clumsily.

A niggling part of her mind was insisting this couldn't happen. It miraculously overrode the flood of desire Gaara had invoked in her, and she fumbled to pry herself free of this kiss. As she pushed herself away from him, gasping for air, he gave her a sharp look that promised this was not over yet, and looked like he was about to descend upon her again.

"Stop," she said.

He smirked at her. That smirk was so annoying, yet soooo attractive.

"Why should I?" he asked.

"Because we're underage," she said.

"I'll be 18 in a month," he retorted.

"But _I_ won't. I'll be 17 in three months and it's _me_ who'll get punishment duty if we're caught like this.

"It's only a kiss," he said, teasingly. She flushed. 'Only' a kiss; whatever. "Besides, if you get caught, you'll get assigned punishment duty in _my_ temple. Then I'll see you _every_ day," he grinned smugly at her. His hands still had not left her. One of them was on her shoulder, thumb brushing idly on her collarbone through the fabric of her shirt. The other was on her lower back, stroking her idly. Despite the curl of his mouth, his pale eyes were intense and hungry on her.

"I could also get kitchen duty, you know. Scrubbing dirty pots until my hands get raw from it. You'd never see me then, because I'd be stashed away in a gigantic kettle with a handful of steel wool," she retorted. "Someone's going to catch us like this, and you can bet they'll make note of the fact that you're from the One Tail's priesthood. And then I'll be kitchen patrol for the rest of my _life_." Sakura scrunched up her nose.

"Surely not that bad," he suggested.

"Have _you_ ever had kitchen duty?" She demanded.

"Well, no." Gaara admitted. "Have _you_?"

"Yeah, once, when I started a food fight in the refectory with the other novices," she blushed. It had been just after she'd been made a novice and dedicated to the Six Tails. It had been just her luck that she'd hurled the sticky rice ball that had hit Tsunade _right_ in the forehead, on the diamond mark of the healing god's favour. That event had _also_ put her on Tsunade's watch list, which, ironically, was partially how she ended up being personally tutored by the high priestess when Sakura's amazing talent for healing had been discovered.

"You started a food fight?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah," she blushed again. "I got Lady Tsunade right between the eyes with a rice ball."

He laughed. "How much time in the kitchen did _that_ buy you?"

"A month." Sakura muttered. Gaara laughed again at that. "I don't want to end up in the kitchen again."

"So staying out of the kitchen is more important than this?" he asked, kissing her again suddenly. She felt dizzy at the unexpected contact. She would have probably stumbled to her knees if he hadn't been practically holding her up. Oooooh, he was determined to test her resolve. Several long minutes passed where she was helpless to do much more than kiss him back, then she regained control of herself a pushed away.

"My studies are more important," she said, breathlessly.

"You should do your pilgrimage."

"Get off it!" She grumbled.

"You should. You'd make priestess in no time," he said.

"I'd have to make acolyte first."

His hands were doing that thing again, that rubbing thing, and it was soothing, and distracting.

"That'll happen sooner than you think," he replied.

"And it's not going to make it easier for me to dodge punishment," she remarked, acidly.

He chuckled. "You're determined, aren't you."

"I _hate_ scrubbing pots!" He chuckled again at her outburst. She looked at the ground. "Gaara, I need to go. I need to go study," she muttered.

"You have the day off," he reminded her.

"I _want_ to study, ok?" she grumbled.

"If you say so, Cherry Blossom," he acquiesced. Those warm hands pulled her in for one more closed-mouthed kiss on the lips before he released her. "Go to your books, since they're so much more interesting."

She flushed and took two steps back, unsure of how to exit, now. He smirked at her. She suspected he knew exactly how he affected her and enjoyed every second of it. Gods damn it, how was it he was so _good_ at this? He was only a year older than she was, and supposedly under the same restrictions as other dedicated under the age of 18, but he _clearly_ knew what he was doing with her. Once again, Sakura felt overwhelmed.

"Well, aren't you going to go study? It seems to me you were insisting on going and doing so not long ago," he teased.

"I'm going!" She said, flushing darker red. He chuckled.

"Do you need an escort back to the temple complex, perhaps?" he asked.

Sakura sighed. "I'm fine! I know the way."

"Or do I need to give you another kiss for the road…?" He smirked.

She blushed and then paled. And then she decided she'd stalled enough and took off for the roofs. And then, she felt like a fool for retreating. Well, better to retreat and live another day than… than… get kissed to death by Gaara in some nasty little alleyway in a not-so-great part of Miyajima City?

Of course, it was just her luck that when she finally _got_ to the library, she was too worked up to actually concentrate on her studies. Damn Gaara and his talent for kissing and even greater talent for throwing her off balance. She sighed and buried her face deeper in the anatomy book, as if that could somehow save her. The only mercy was the fact that Ino knew nothing about what had gone on today, and if Sakura had a say in it, Ino never would.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm going to assume all the 'update soon please' comments are just people's way of saying they like this story. In which case, thanks! This story updates once a week on Wednesdays. That's the schedule and I'm sticking to it, otherwise I'll run out of material and leave you guys hanging longer than a week, and I don't like doing that. **

**I appreciate the comments on my writing ability. Thank you. I do put the effort into proofreading and I have two betas for this story: Musichowler (whose grasp of punctuation and grammar is even better than my own not-so-insignificant skill with it) and danyel (who has an excellent eye for plot). I like to thank them continuously. That people are noticing the effort that's going into this warms my heart.  
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**Well, a little Sakura and Gaara smoochy action sure stirred up a response. Some of you are wondering about lemons. There will be lemons in this story, but they come later than usual for my stories. The reason why is that they are plot important lemons and they do not fit into the plot until then. Also, I have qualms about underage sex. It squicks me out. I'm not so naive as to pretend it doesn't happen (after all, I was 16 once and full of hormones), it's just that as an adult I have been socially conditioned to be uncomfortable with underage sexuality and that's a social conditioning that I'm just fine with. **

**If you were hoping I'd go straight for the lemon, I'm sorry to disappoint. You'll have to be content with plenty more kissing and build-up (including some in this chapter). Honestly the build-up is just as much fun. It's the tension between characters that we tend to find the most exciting.

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Chapter 6

Sakura hadn't been caught, and managed to dodge kitchen duty, which she figured was more than she deserved. The next day, she was right back in the children's ward, trying to heal sick kids with everything from routine ailments and injuries to mysterious diseases that baffled the whole ward.

It wasn't as bad as she had feared. None of the children asked her about Hiro or why he wasn't there anymore. Presumably, someone else had explained death to them. She still felt a sense of sadness, but the guilt and failure that had torn at her soul that day had eased. Between the arena and the days off (and the delicious, frightening distraction of Gaara), that had gotten better. Well, that's what the arena was for, and why Tsunade had given her the time to be at her own devices.

She got back into the rhythm of work, spending the mornings in the children's ward, and the afternoons at her studies, either in the library or in classes with other novices and acolytes, or learning from Tsunade directly. The bustle and activity of her day-to-day routine kept her distracted from thinking too much about Gaara. She could lose herself in her work.

A month passed, faster than Sakura would have thought possible. She was rotated out of the children's ward and into the emergency room, where she treated shinobi who encountered mishaps and civilians alike. Emergency room duty was hectic; with a far faster pace than anything she'd encountered yet before. She knew novices rarely got ER duty. Sure, she was assisting more experienced priests and acolytes rather than leading efforts, but still, it was an honour and she knew it. An exhausting honour. It was teaching her so much; from chakra control and rationing, to building chakra capacity and learning how to pace her physical energy as well.

It was on a rare day off that she next saw Gaara. It wasn't like he could access her any other way, unless he got injured, after all. She was in one of the flower gardens set up in the spaces between individual temple walls; a fairly secluded place and one where she liked to come read when she didn't want to be disturbed. It was what she was doing now.

She thumbed through the book on poisons and antidotes intently, utterly focused on her studies. So focused, that she sensed the presence behind her only just before it reached out to touch her. She scrambled, spinning, book coming up as an impromptu shield, ready to fight if she had to.

There smirked Gaara, mischievous twinkle burning in his eyes.

"I shouldn't be able to sneak up on you like that," he said.

"Oh stuff it," she grumbled, lowering her book. "I'm in home territory and this is where I like to come to read on days off."

"An enemy won't hesitate to kill you on your day off, even in home territory," he pointed out.

"We're not at war with anyone," she retorted.

"Yet," came his cryptic reply. She looked askance at him. He didn't respond for a long moment. Then he sat down on the curved stone bench beside where she had been sitting, leaning forward with his hands folded and hanging between his knees. Sakura sat down beside him, having nothing really better to do. He seemed thoughtful about something.

"Our south western borders are being tested by Akatsuki probes," He said, finally.

"They've been doing that for years." Sakura noted.

"They'll keep doing it for years too. And then when we think they'll just keep on doing it, they'll start the war off with a greater force that we're expecting and overrun our fortifications. Once they take the fortifications, it's an easy dash inland towards the capital," he frowned. "Civilians will die by the score."

Sakura looked down at her sandaled feet. "That's how I became an orphan, fourteen years ago."

"You're an orphan?" He inquired mildly. She nodded. Orphans were not rare in the priesthood, particularly if they were chakra users. Yet, most orphans typically didn't wish to discuss their life prior to entering the clergy. For Sakura, it wasn't so bad. She had very little memory of a life before becoming an initiate as a toddler.

"My mother and father were killed in the last war with Akatsuki. They were farmers near the frontier, or so I was told. I was just a toddler. My mom made it to my aunt's house carrying me, mortally wounded, and died shortly after. I don't even remember what she looked like, but I think she must have had pink hair, too." Sakura paused. "My aunt didn't know what to do with a toddler, she was widowed and barren. She fled towards the capital. Somehow along the way someone found out I had chakra potential and she gladly handed me over to the temples."

"Do you keep in contact with her?" Gaara asked.

"Letters sometimes. She's proud of me. But I don't think she wants to see me or anything. She's moved back to the frontier where my parents lived, and she's in some dinky little town weaving fabrics." Sakura kicked her feet, swinging them under the bench. "Do you think the border will be overrun again?"

"If we can't mount an effective defence, yes. And we won't be able to do that if we don't start beefing up those fortifications and getting shinobi used to battle patrols. If we have weak borders and untested battle-priests, we'll be destroyed. If they take the capital they've basically destroyed our base of power. They'll smash the temples and we'll never be able to muster an effective response. We'll be dead and so will our gods."

"Then why aren't we strengthening our defences?" She asked.

"Politics, mostly." Gaara sighed. "Learn all you can, Sakura. You're going to be needed. Everyone will be needed."

He looked worried. It was an alien emotion on his face. Sakura had to stifle a nearly overwhelming urge to reach out and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Then his whole demeanour shifted in a moment. He lifted himself up, re-assumed his customary smirk, and leaned back, hands linked behind his head.

"But that's not why I'm here," he smiled. Sakura eyed him doubtfully, book in her hands forgotten. His green-blue eyes slid over to her. "Do you know what today is?" He asked, slightly teasingly.

"My day off?" Sakura offered. Gaara's smirk deepened.

"My birthday."

"Oh, happy birthday!" she exclaimed. Then she felt bad, because she didn't have anything for him. Not even a single thing. "Uhh… I'm sorry Gaara, I didn't get you anything…" she said, hesitantly.

"Sure you did," he assured her confidently. She gave him a confused look. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her suddenly, pulling her into his lap and stealing a kiss. She dropped the book. Sakura was well aware that she was blushing bright red. Gaara shifted her, adjusting her so that she was straddling his legs, and kissed her again. Sakura trembled, feeling the heat off him, and feeling a suspicious bulge growing in his lap as he kissed her. She was a medic, she knew enough about anatomy to know what _that_ was.

Hands wandered down her shoulders and back, holding her to him and caressing her, as he kissed her deeply. Sakura wanted to melt, wanted to vanish. She was terrified of being spotted by someone, but it felt _so good_. Sure, _he_ might be 18 now, but _she_ wasn't. She was still 16. She struggled to end the kiss and get free.

He made a slightly perturbed "Hmm" of protest at her struggles and held her tighter. His mouth wandered to her neck and up to her ear. He nibbled her ear and she shuddered. "Now I'm satisfied with my birthday," he whispered in her ear, letting her go.

She almost fell out of his lap, but shinobi reflexes saved her. She stood, giving him a flushed and flustered look. His milk-pale cheeks were pinked and the look in his eyes smouldered. She already knew he was aroused. So was she. But they _couldn't_. She looked away for a moment.

"One year, two months," he said, giving her a look that made her knees feel weak. "Do your pilgrimage."

"I'll do it when I want to," she protested, weakly. He chuckled and smiled, linking his fingers together and gazing up at her.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Emergency room, mostly," she answered. She wasn't sure if she should sit down again or if he'd try to kiss her again. There was her book on the ground. She should pick it up. She reached for it, only to see him pick it up and lift it in offering to her.

"Thank you." Sakura said, accepting the book. He smirked. She blushed. "You're incorrigible."

"So I've been told," he acknowledged. "Don't worry, Sakura. I shall molest you no further today," he gestured briefly to the bench. She sat down beside him again and she heard him chuckle.

"Well I'm glad _you_ find this funny," she said with a huff.

"Oh I find it hilarious," he replied. "Some day I'll explain to you just how funny I find this," he leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sky. She sat with her tome in her lap, watching him. "Nara's got the right of it. Cloud watching _is_ an excellent pastime. Especially with good company."

Sakura snorted.

"Well, it's true," he defended.

"Let me guess, the company he prefers is Ino?" She asked.

"Is that the blue-eyed blonde who favours purple?" Gaara asked.

"That's her," Sakura said.

"That would be the one. I've seen them kissing, but I'm not going to rat them out. This age requirement thing is ridiculous. People are ready when they're ready."

"It's meant to allow us to focus on our studies. And to prevent people from pressuring those who _aren't_ ready," she said pointedly, giving him a slightly accusatory glare.

He snorted, still gazing at the clouds, but didn't challenge her on that. She was a little relieved; she'd been half expecting him to declare something like '_you're_ ready' or something equally infuriating. But maybe he had self-preservation instincts after all.

They sat for a while in silence, Gaara watching the clouds go by, and Sakura thumbing through her volume. Finally Gaara sighed deeply and rose. Sakura paused in her reading and looked up at him.

"I should get going. I'm supposed to help clean the sand today," he said.

"Huh?" Sakura said, bewildered.

"On the arena floors. Because I have such a strong affinity over sand, they ask me to help," he said.

"Oh…" Sakura considered. It had been a month since she'd lost a patient. People had died in ER, but not under her sole care. She hadn't had the need to go to the arena since the little boy passed away. It felt so far away now. She grinned suddenly. "Well at least they're putting you to some use," she teased him.

He snorted. "Take care, Cherry Blossom. We'll see you around," he left the little garden. She watched him go, not unaffected by the smooth and graceful motion of his body as he retreated. She sighed. He really was too good looking for his own good. And how he could affect her like he did, well, she just didn't know. He did things to her she hadn't thought were possible before this.

This was a situation she never thought she would be in. She was still trying to decide how she felt about all of this. She knew that she was undeniably attracted to Gaara, and his kisses had done nothing to quell that. A feeling that had started with curiosity and noting his looks in the shrine had grown within her, shifting to something more intense and unfamiliar.

She sighed. The next year couldn't pass quick enough for her.

Her book was suddenly uninteresting. She closed it, carefully placing her bookmark, and stared at the cover idly, until she finally decided that she wasn't getting anywhere sitting in the garden either. It felt oddly empty now that Gaara had left.

Silently she rose and went back to her temple, seeking the library, where hopefully she could meet up with Hinata and have a discussion about medicinal plants or something.

Maybe he was right, and she _should_ consider her pilgrimage. She couldn't advance to acolyte until she'd done it, even if she was 18, 19… age didn't matter. One still had to prove oneself before the gods. The priesthood wasn't called the dedicated for nothing.

She decided then that she'd speak to Tsunade about it tomorrow.

That night, Sakura dreamed. It was a strange dream, in which she was hiding around a corner, eavesdropping on two people talking. Two boys, or young men, her age. She didn't know who they were and she never saw them, intent as she was in her dream to stay hidden. The conversation didn't even make sense to her.

"_I've found her, again. I've found her."_ One boy said to the other.

"_I'm glad for you. Where are you? You know those two; they're never far from each other."_ The other replied.

"_The main city. I came on a hunch. I was right."_

"_I should come. Did you see _her_?"_ Two asked breathlessly

"_No… but that doesn't mean she's not here."_ A pause and then a long sigh. _"I'd forgotten what it's like. It's been so long since we did this, my friend… being mortal is so distracting."_

"_Trouble in paradise?"_ The other laughed.

"_Oh shut up. It's hormones. Damn annoying things. Just when I think things are going alright they start taking over and I'm doing something stupid without my conscious consent. I'm acting in ways I can't even help, and it's _stupid_. How is that even possible? Between that and the information gaps, and all the little ridiculous day to day crap it's just… intolerable."_ The first speaker muttered indignantly. The other one just laughed. _"Oh sure, laugh it up. _You_ come here and _you'll_ see what it's like."_

"_I'll do that."_ Two promised. _"You forget I'm in the same situation that _you_ are. I just haven't got it as bad as you yet."_ Two laughed. _"I'm glad you found her. Does she remember anything?"_

"_No."_ One snorted. _"They never do, you know that. What I don't get, is they left before we did. Yet somehow I got here earlier. How does _that_ work?"_

"_No clue, my friend. We don't know everything." _There was humour in Two`s voice.

"_More's the pity."_ One said acidly. _"I just hope we have enough _time_. Everything is going to go crazy here in a few years, all my senses tell me that. And with our power split like this, I don't know if we'll be able to help as much as we should. And what if something happens to them before the right time? Everything is so uncertain," he_ sounded worried. One seemed to be the more serious of the two boys. Two had a happy-go-lucky attitude which struck dream-Sakura as terribly amusing.

Two sighed. _"I think you're worrying over nothing, my friend. We'll be ok. It's not like it's just the two of us. There's the others, and they're preparing. And you know we'll come back from our vacation refreshed and ready for action."_

"_Yeah, I know. But I still worry. This is _my_ domain you know. I should really be pulling my own weight."_

"_Don't worry. Things will work out. I've got to go; it's dawn here already. Good luck with her and I'll see you soon!"_

"_Yeah. You go have fun. Don't get seasick!"_ One laughed.

"_Oh shut up!"_ Two protested, somehow still cheerful. Both boys laughed.

Sakura stirred, waking. She sat up in her little bed, the shreds of the dream still confusing in her mind, although they were rapidly fading. By the time she made it to the refectory for breakfast, she'd forgotten most of it.

In the refectory with a tray full of food, she spotted Hinata and Ino in line for food. She waved and signalled that she would find a table for them, and went to find one. As soon as they got their breakfasts, the two girls joined her.

"I'm going to do it." Sakura declared, in between bites of her eggs.

"Do what?" Ino asked. Hinata gave her a curious look.

"I'm going to start my pilgrimage." Sakura said. Both Ino and Hinata reacted to that little bit of information, Ino gaping at her and Hinata giving her a tremulous smile.

"Forehead! Are you _serious_?" Ino demanded.

"I'm glad for you, Sakura." Hinata said, tremulously.

"Yeah I'm serious, and thanks, Hinata." Sakura said. Hinata smiled. Ino stared at Sakura.

"Oh great. Now _I'm_ going to have to do _mine_!" Ino whined.

"Do it when you're ready. I've decided I'm ready." Sakura didn't mention that the encounter with Gaara the day before had made up her mind. She didn't want to mention Gaara around Ino. She knew exactly the grilling that was awaiting her if she did. And if it ever came out that Gaara had kissed her (twice), well, Ino would never let her be. Not to mention little miss gossip would probably get Sakura on kitchen patrol with her loose lips. Sakura wasn't exaggerating when she said that she _hated_ scrubbing pots.

"Aren't you nervous?" Hinata asked.

"Well, yeah." Sakura said, and then grinned. "But you know what? Everyone does it eventually."

"Except people who want to remain novices forever." Ino pointed out.

"I don't want to be a novice forever." Sakura said.

"Me neither." Hinata agreed. "Maybe I should do mine too…"

"Oh hey now, don't leave me behind!" Ino protested.

"Then you should do yours too, Ino-pig!" Sakura laughed. She finished her breakfast and went to the emergency room for her shift. One thing about being on pilgrimage; novices on pilgrimage were generally not expected to take full duties, since the tasks of the gods were often full time propositions.

The emergency room was oddly quiet today; there seemed to be a dearth of accidents and incidents for some reason. Sakura wasn't complaining. It seemed somewhat fitting that her last day in emergency before taking her pilgrimage was a slow one.

After lunch she reported to Tsunade's office. Going on pilgrimage was something that had to be brought to the high priestess for approval. Sakura did not have any doubt that Tsunade would approve; the old high priestess had been nagging Sakura for months now. Lady Tsunade wanted Sakura to advance, because despite her young prodigy's abilities, there was material she could not access until she made acolyte.

Standing outside her high priestess's office, she felt suddenly nervous. She froze, arm raised, fist poised to rap on the stone surface. Could she really do this? What if it took a year? What if it took _two years_? What if she started it and never finished, and got stuck somewhere in a limbo of novicehood…

"Come _in_, Sakura. You've been standing out there for five minutes," her mentor's voice came from through the door. Sakura started. How had… no, that was a stupid question. Lady Tsunade's chakra control and medic senses were legendary. Of course her teacher knew she was lurking. She pushed open the door and bowed.

"So you finally decided to come in, Sakura?" Tsunade teased her lightly.

"Uh…" Sakura said and stared at her feet.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" The famed medic-nin asked her, arching a brow at the pink-haired teen in her office.

"I… uh… I want to start my pilgrimage." Sakura said, still staring at her feet. She startled slightly at the sudden thump of her mentor's palms on the heavy wood desk as Tsunade jumped to her feet. Sakura looked up to see her teacher standing with a feral grin, staring intently at Sakura.

"It's about time!" Tsunade barked cheerfully. "You're relieved of full time duties until you've completed your pilgrimage, although you are, of course, welcome to volunteer or come to classes if you desire. As you are no doubt aware, you must complete a task for each god in the pantheon. The tasks will be given to you when you make an offering and pray at the shrines. Don't ask how you'll know, you'll know. You can do them in any order you desire, but you may only do one task for one god at a time. Let's see… is there anything I've forgotten?" Tsunade mused, grinning.

"Um, I can't get help…?" Sakura supplied.

"_Wrong!_" Tsunade yelled. "You may have help. No one may complete your task for you, but you may have help from other people. Oh yes, and you are free of any movement restrictions while you are on your pilgrimage, I will issue you a special pass that allows you to travel anywhere in the kingdom if you are so required."

"Anywhere in the… _kingdom_…" Sakura repeated weakly. Oh, she really _hoped_ that the gods wouldn't send her all over the place. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying. Please, would it be alright just to stay in Miyajima City? Certainly that wouldn't violate the plans of the divine too much?

"Oh don't worry, Sakura. It's very rare that anyone is sent farther than Fire Mountain." Tsunade said, resuming her seat.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, although Fire Mountain was concerning enough. There were tales of monsters living up on the volcano slopes. Sakura was a shinobi, but unknown monsters gave even her pause.

"Sakura," Tsunade eyed her apprentice fondly. "Don't worry. You will do fine. I am proud of you," she smiled.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade!" Sakura blurted, bowing quickly several times.

"Which temple are you going to start at?" Tsunade asked.

"I thought maybe I'd start at the Nine Tails and work my way down." Sakura admitted.

"Not at the Six Tails?" Tsunade asked, teasingly. Sakura shook her head. "It's alright, Sakura. The order doesn't matter. Good luck!"

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!" Sakura repeated.

"Now, be off with you. Go find an appropriate offering and ask the Nine Tails for your task." Tsunade waved her off.

"Right away, Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said, and dashed from the high priestess's office.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for all your reads and reviews. This fic seems to be generating a lot of excitement, which is in turn exciting for me. **

**I've been considering starting a forum so that people can speculate and discuss all they want without having to leave a comment (although I still love your comments. Really, I do. Comments are very very motivating!) or being restricted to just one comment. It would also allow more back and forth discussion than author's notes and comments permit. There's a poll up in my profile, if you have an opinion either way, go press the button that most closely matches. **

**Thanks to danyel and Musichowler for the betaing work!

* * *

**

Chapter 7

She would need an appropriate sacrifice for the Nine Tailed God of Luck. Seriously, what did one get a god of luck? Sakura didn't know. She hadn't visited the Nine Tails' temple, well, at all, outside of one or two obligatory trips as an initiate.

She wandered by the entrance to the temple compound, looking at the vendors selling things like fruit, flowers and bread as offerings for the gods. They were tolerated, even encouraged, as long as they kept their carts and their commerce outside of the temple gates and on the flag-stoned court at the top of the stone stairs up the hill. Perhaps something from one of the vendors? What would be appropriate for a temple of luck?

Sakura thought back to her studies, and the only thing that came to mind was flowers. Well, flowers all had meanings. Perhaps she could find something appropriate. Luck, there were a few flowers that stood for luck. Lavender was one of them. She went to the flower seller's cart.

"Excuse me, do you have any lavender?" She asked the middle-aged man who was manning the fresh-cut plants. He looked at her mildly.

"Of course, my dear. I have the finest lavender. Would you like to buy some for an offering to the gods?" He replied.

"I would." Sakura stated. They bargained to an acceptable price and exchanged goods, Sakura handing over some of her arena-earned funds, and receiving several attractive and fragrant sprigs of lavender in return. She bowed her thanks to the keeper and made her way back into the temple complex, heading for the Nine Tails' compound.

Within the gates of the Nine Tails' walls, she saw several priests in bright orange robes tending the statues of the god lining the walk to the temple. Not for the first time, Sakura pondered the prohibition against portraying the gods as having human forms. Temple lore stated that they took mortal form from time to time, in fact, some of the incarnations of the saints were said to be avatars of the gods or their beloved companions, the shakti. Yet, in the statues and artwork of the temples, they were always portrayed in their animalistic forms.

The Nine Tails was an enormous fox, sharp-faced and sly-eyed, with its cluster of bushy tails. Whoever had carved these two statues had imbued them with a great deal of good-nature and playfulness. One of the foxes was rolled onto its back, playing with its own tails. The other appeared to be pawing at something going by its head, perhaps a butterfly.

She found an older looking, white-haired priest with red markings on his face, who looked idle, and asked for directions to the shrine. He was happy to show her the way, chattering the whole time. "It's a fine day, is it not, miss? We have been most fortunate with the weather lately, with just the right amount of rain and sun. I think I recognise you, aren't you a novice of the healing god?" The man said, pausing and giving Sakura an opportunity to interrupt his monologue.

"Yes, I'm starting my pilgrimage today," she said.

"Oh, your pilgrimage? Has anyone told you how to receive the gods' tasks?" The priest asked.

"Yes, I know how." Sakura stated.

"I know they say there is no order, but I've always thought it a good idea to begin with the Nine Tails. Lucky, you know. Finish his task first and you should have good luck for the rest of your tasks." The priest commented.

Sakura smiled. "That's kind of what I was hoping for."

"Grandpa Jiraiya, weren't we going to go—oh, excuse me!" A young man dashed out, dressed in a bright orange and black jumpsuit, running straight for the older man accompanying Sakura. Spotting the pink-haired teen he stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms across his chest. "You promised you wouldn't do this in Miyajima City, you pervy old man!" The youth yelled.

Sakura looked from the youth to the old man. The white haired man had his eyes closed and was rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. "This is perfectly innocent, Naruto, I'm showing this lovely young lady the way to the shrine!" He said.

Sakura started to wonder who this guy was. She was fully able to sense that there was more going on here than met the eye. She wrinkled her brow at the old man, who started to blush as the youth, this Naruto, started loudly protesting that he didn't believe this 'Jiraiya.' Sakura wondered what she'd walked into.

"Ahem," Sakura said. The blond didn't hear her.

"I can't _believe_ you, you're supposed to be on your best behaviour here, not hitting on underage acolytes—,"

"Actually I'm a novice…" Sakura interjected. _Hitting on her?_ She eyed the old man again. He was still blushing and rubbing his neck, mouth pulled in an apologetic grimace.

"—Novices, I don't care, you're a sorry excuse for a high priest! I don't know why I ever agreed—,"

"Wait, _what_?" Sakura interrupted, staring wide eyed at the white-haired man. High _priest_? But the high priest of the luck god lived out in the luck god's main temple, across the straight on an island.

"Naruto, calm down." Jiraiya said. "The young novice is starting her pilgrimage and I'm showing her to the—,"

"Wait, pilgrimage?" The orange-clad youth's tirade broke off and he turned a brilliant blue-eyed stare to Sakura. She felt slightly stunned for a moment, like the world had just dropped out from underneath her, but then she recovered. Those blue eyes were really startling. And this youth, well, he had the same boundless energy she sensed in Gaara. If he was talking to the _high priest of the luck god_ like that, he _must_ be well placed within the priesthood. Wait, the boy had called Jiraiya 'grandpa', hadn't he…

"Yes. I'm starting my pilgrimage, and I came to the luck god's temple first. I have an offering," she said, raising the lavender she held for the boy to see. He peered at it intensely, and then broke into a wide grin, like the sun breaking through the clouds. Sakura almost felt overwhelmed. A part of her idly noticed markings on his cheek, like whiskers, make more prominent by his sudden, brilliant smile.

"Lavender! Lavender is _perfect_! I'll show you to the shrine, and you can make your offering," he said. "Follow me."

"That's quite alright, Naruto, I can show her to the shrine—," High priest Jiraiya began, only to be interrupted by the youth.

"No, she can come with me, you're busy. I can show a novice to the shrine!" The blond insisted.

"Uh," Sakura said as the boy took her hand and pulled her further into the temple halls.

"Come with me, you won't regret it! Everything is going to be just fine, believe it!" The youth insisted. Sakura let him pull on her hand, trailing behind him like an afterthought. He led her through several twists and turns and finally to the shrine room. It was much like every other shrine room in the pantheon; an obelisk was set up for the god's shrine, and there were spaces laid out for offerings.

"Thank you, uh, Naruto," she said, using the name she'd picked up from the conversation.

"You're welcome, what did you say your name was?" Again, he gave her an intense look, and she felt ever so slightly dizzy.

"Uh, I'm Sakura," she replied.

"Sakura! It's nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll become great friends!" He said. "I just came in from the Island with Jiraiya this afternoon. I'm going to begin my pilgrimage too, soon."

"That's good," Sakura said, hesitantly. "I need to make my offering and pray," she said.

"Oh, right! Don't worry, Sakura. I'm sure you'll do just fine," he grinned that infectious grin, and she smiled back. He scampered off to sit on one of the stone benches nearby, and she knelt by the obelisk, laying the lavender on top of the offering pile.

Sakura closed her eyes and cleared her mind, as she'd been taught, emptying herself of all but the intention to receive the god's task. She sat for what seemed like an eternity, yet what seemed like no time at all. Then, she felt a presence. It was distinct, and unmistakeable. There was a brazen brightness to it, and it was surprisingly welcoming. It was the god.

There were no words. Communication with the divine requires no words. Instead, Sakura felt filled with the presence of the god, for one moment experiencing a vastness that she had never imagined. She saw visions. She saw the shore, the ocean, living things. And among them were the _coquilla_ clams that were such a delicacy in Miyajima this time of the year. She saw a perfect, unbroken _coquilla_ shell, beautifully patterned and spread open like a butterfly in flight. Then the presence vanished and she was left with a sense of intent. She had her task.

She opened her eyes and rose.

"Well? What did you get?"

"I need to find a shell," she said, a bit breathlessly. So that was personal contact with the mind of a god. She felt so… small.

"A shell? So what? There's piles of them on the beach." Naruto said.

"Not just a shell. A perfect _coquilla_," she said.

"Well, _that's_ different." Naruto said. "Those things _always_ break whenever I eat them."

"Me too," she said. The _coquilla_ was a small, beautiful and delicious clam commonly found in the waters around Miyajima and its neighbouring islands. It was notorious for having a very fragile, breakable shell. Perfect _coquilla_ shells were a rarity.

"You're going to need luck to find a perfect one." Naruto said.

"Don't I know it," she said.

"You're going to need help eating all those _coquilla_," he remarked.

She eyed him. The blond boy hadn't lost his idiot grin. Damn it, he was right. It would probably take a lot of clams before she managed to get one that didn't break when she opened it. She'd probably get sick of the damn things before she'd finished this task.

"I love _coquilla_." The youth supplied, helpfully.

"Then you're going to help me eat them." Sakura said, scowling just a little.

"Yes!" The blond fist-pumped. Sakura stifled the urge to roll her eyes.

"I should get back to my temple. I need to get some things and go down into the city and buy a bunch of clams." Sakura said. She prepared to leave the shrine. The golden youth walked next to her as she left the temple.

"Hey, you're over in the Six Tails' temple right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said.

"Can I come with you? I need to talk to someone there," he said.

"I don't see why not." Sakura replied. They walked together to the temple of the Six Tails, Naruto chattering the whole way. He was as garrulous as the high priest. Sakura wondered again if they were related, and decided they had to be, because no one could be that rude to a high priest unless they were related. She hoped. It said something really bad about the high priest of the Nine Tails if he let people speak to him like that regularly.

She took Naruto to the shrine, where he dug a bill out of a frog-shaped wallet and made an offering. She watched while he made his bow and a quick silent prayer. When he straightened up, she asked, "Who is it you need to meet?"

"Um, her name is Lady Tsunade…" He said.

"Oh," Sakura said, "She's the high priestess. I need to talk to her too. I'll take you to her office." Sakura gestured for Naruto to follow.

"Oh, hey, thanks!" Naruto grinned at her.

"She's the high priestess, you know." Sakura said as they walked.

"Oh really? That's right, this is the main temple for the Six Tails, isn't it?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded. "It's really neat. The Nine Tails' main temple is out on Kishimoto Island. I actually came to Miyajima today. We left this morning and the winds were so good we were here by lunch time!" Naruto said.

"How come you came to Miyajima?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I'm supposed to begin my pilgrimage and there are not temples of all the gods on the Island," he replied. "We only have three there, the One Tails, the Nine Tails, and the Three Tails. So while I could start the pilgrimage out there I'd have to come here to finish it. I decided it was a better idea just to come here. Besides, the shinobi community on the Island is pretty small, I thought I'd have a better chance of meeting others my age here." Naruto explained.

Well, that made sense. With only three temples, perhaps there weren't all that many novices. She glanced over Naruto; he looked to be about the same age as she was, or close enough. "There's a lot of people here our age," she informed him. "There were at least 10 in my year as an initiate. Some have gone to other temples in the country but most are still here. And there's people here from other temples outside Miyajima, like you."

"Oh, that's good." Naruto smiled. "I have a pen-friend from Toriyama City in the desert, maybe he came here too. He said he was gonna."

"Is he also in the Nine Tails' temple?"

"No, he's sworn to the battle god." Naruto said. Sakura wondered for a moment about that, but then dismissed it. Just because Gaara was the top of her mind half the time, didn't mean the world revolved around him. It was probably someone else from the desert that was Naruto's friend.

"Well, here we are," Sakura said as they stopped at Tsunade's door. She knocked on the stone.

"Enter." Came the familiar command from within. Sakura pushed open the door and Naruto trailed after her.

"Sakura." Tsunade acknowledged her presence. "Who is this?"

"This is Naruto, he's from Kishimoto Island and the Nine Tails' temple." Sakura introduced her new friend. Well, he was becoming one. She found the young blond charming and very friendly. "He's got a message. And I need to ask a favour. Naruto, this is Lady Tsunade, high priestess of the Six Tailed Slug of Healing."

"Pleased to meet you." Naruto bowed. Tsunade looked at him.

"What's the favour, and what's the message?" She asked, taking in the young man standing in her office.

"Uh, well…" Sakura started, "my first task is to get a perfect, unbroken _coquilla_ shell for the luck god—,"

"Mm, _coquilla_, I love those little things. Damn hard to get a perfect one." Tsunade interrupted her. "What do you need?"

Sakura sighed. "I suspect I'm going to need _a lot_ of _coquilla_, so I was wondering if I can use the temple's outdoor cook pit." The cook pit was used for special occasions and celebrations for the whole temple, but occasionally smaller groups used it for private functions. One just had to get permission beforehand. Sakura didn't know if the other temples had similar arrangements for their outdoor cook pits. There was a big one used at the solstice festivals by all the temples – that was always one heck of a party – but Sakura didn't need that one. She only really needed one hearth at the Six Tails' temple.

"I don't see why not. But you know you'll have people coming by and wanting some." Tsunade said. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. The next thing she had to do was get _coquilla_. Buckets and buckets of _coquilla_. And maybe a friend or two to help her eat the damn things.

"So what's the message?" Tsunade switched her gaze to the blond youth standing next to Sakura.

"Oh, old man Jiraiya told me to tell you he was in town for a month." Naruto said. Sakura nearly fell over at his irreverent attitude. Calling the high priest 'old man Jiraiya,' how cheeky was that?

Tsunade's eyes bugged. Sakura wasn't sure if the reaction was anger or something else. "He's _here?_ That old bastard. I'm going to ki—uh," her teacher broke off suddenly, seeming to realize that there were young, impressionably, hungry-for-details youngsters in the room, both of whom were watching her avidly. "That is, thank you for the information, Naruto. I shall be sure to speak with the high priest of the Nine Tails before he returns to the Island. You may both be about your business."

Both youths bowed to the high priestess and exited, together.

"I guess she's met old man Jiraiya." Naruto commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Is he really that bad?" Sakura inquired.

"Oh yeah." Naruto made a sour face. "Terror of the bathhouses."

Sakura stifled the giggle that rose at that. "Is it really ok for a high priest to be so badly behaved?" She asked. Naruto looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"He's a high priest; can't he do what he wants?" He said.

"I thought the high clergy was supposed to conduct itself with decorum," she defended.

He gave a little snort. "Not Jiraiya. But he's favoured, you know," he said "He's really old, but the Nine Tails keeps him around. Guess the god likes him." Naruto grinned. "Who wouldn't, really? He's an old lech but he's a great guy."

They walked out to the temple courtyard together before Sakura realized that she was basically just wandering aimlessly with Naruto. She decided to take him back to the Nine Tails' compound and then return and study a bit. There was no sense in trying to get the clams for today – the clam diggers brought their catch to the docks in the early morning after a night of soaking in water to clean them. She'd secured permission to use the outdoor fire pit, now she just needed to get the clams.

She and the blond chattered happily as they walked. When they got to the gate of his temple she stopped. "I'm going to go back to my temple and talk to the people at the refectory about using some pots. If you want to come help me eat _coquilla_ tomorrow, feel free," she said.

"Oh, yeah, I'll help you eat them!" Naruto beamed at her. "Are you going to go get them at the docks? I'll get permission to come into the city and help you bring them back," he said.

"Oh, that would be nice." Sakura replied. "Sure, meet me at the main gates just after sunrise."

"Just after sunrise?" He made a face. "Aw man. For _coquilla_ I'll do it, believe it!"

She laughed and bade him farewell.

That evening in the refectory, Ino and Hinata grilled her for information on her first task.

"Alright Forehead, tell us what you got to do first." Ino demanded.

"Yeah, Sakura, we need to know." Hinata agreed.

"Oh that." Sakura sighed. "I have to get a perfect _coquilla_ shell for the luck god," she said, for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Ino gaped at her, and Hinata giggled.

"That's _it_? That's your big task from the god?" Ino said. "Get a seashell? There's plenty of them out on the beaches," she said, dismissively.

"Oh, Ino, don't start declaring it an easy task yet." Hinata said. "Have you eaten a lot of _coquilla_?"

"No, I can't stand them." Ino said.

"I don't like them either, but I know that their shells break very easy. Getting a perfect one will be hard." Hinata said. "Sakura will probably have to shell a lot of clams before she gets one acceptable to the luck god."

"I think that's the point." Sakura scowled. "I swear, the Two Tails might be the trickster god, but all the gods are full of pranks on mortals. At least I like _coquilla_."

"How many do you think you'll need to shell?" Hinata asked.

"Who knows." Sakura shrugged. "I've never shelled a perfect one. I'm going to buy a few buckets full."

"Ew, that's a lot of clams." Ino stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Are you seriously going to eat all that?"

Sakura laughed. "Oh, gods, no. I'll have help," she said.

"Help?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, one of the Nine Tails' novices offered to help me eat them. No one can help me shell them, you know, but people can help me eat them. I think it would be insulting to the gods to waste them." Sakura remarked.

"Maybe I should come and eat just one, then, and show my solidarity." Hinata said, blushing as she smiled.

"Solidarity? I suppose I could eat one too. Just one though. The things I do for you, Forehead." Ino said.

"You're all heart, Ino-pig." Sakura smirked, and then dodged Ino's flung pea.

"Oh, don't start a food fight, Ino. Last time we got kitchen duty for weeks." Hinata cautioned.

"_I_ got it for a _month_." Sakura said sourly.

"That's because you got Tsunade in the face with an onigiri." Ino smirked. Sakura smiled at the memory. Even Hinata giggled a little, covering her mouth with her hand. "Point taken, Hinata. I don't want to scrub pots!" Ino grinned.

After the meal she approached the head of the kitchen in order to ask permission to use a pot. After she explained her pilgrimage task, he cheerfully lent her a large pot for the clams, and one for the imperfect shells, stating "you're going to need this," with a smile.

She went to bed in good spirits, feeling like this task wasn't an insurmountable one. It would be tricky, yes. It would take fine control and possibly even chakra use and more than a little bit of luck, but she thought she could do it. It might even be fun. Briefly, she wondered if Gaara liked _coquilla_.

The next morning she woke before dawn, fresh and determined to succeed in her task. She took a quick shower and then dressed for the day, taking some of her stash of money for the clams. She went to the main gates, where Naruto was waiting, as promised, at the appointed time.

"I got permission to come help you carry clams." The golden-haired boy beamed, flashing his gate pass. Sakura grinned and dug out hers. They showed the passes to the acolyte on duty, who nodded them through to the city.

The two of them made their way down to the docks as the sun rose over the waters. On the wharf, the clam diggers were setting up their wares, with molluscs of all varieties in cool water to clean. They had been caught in the days before and had been in water since, still alive and slowly purging all the sand from their systems.

Sakura and Naruto approached the stalls. If the vendors were surprised to see two youth down buying clams first thing in the morning, they kept it to themselves. They were happy enough to take her money, and Naruto seemed happy enough to take the large, heavy buckets of clams.

"How many do you think it'll take?" Sakura asked him.

"I don't know." Naruto replied. "We can start with this and if you need more you can always come back and get some tomorrow, right?"

"I guess." Sakura admitted. They walked back to the temple compound, buckets in each hand, careful not to slosh the clams around too much as they walked. She knew from experience eating these that some of them would arrive to the cook pot already cracked or broken. They were still edible – the only ones that weren't were the ones that didn't open their seams with gentle pressure. Those were the ones that died sometime between being dug and getting into the bucket. Most clam sellers picked through their catch to eliminate those before purchase, though.

They brought the buckets to the Six Tails' temple, Naruto following her dutifully and cheerfully, chattering happily as they walked. There she found the cook pit already stocked with wood, and the cauldron that the kitchens had lent her had been brought out. Sakura found herself slightly touched at the gesture. She'd known on an intellectual level that the other people in the temples were usually happy to help novices on pilgrimage, but experiencing it still felt nice.

"So how are you going to do this?" Naruto asked as he put his two buckets down.

"I'm going to cook them one bucket at a time, I think. I'm going to be here awhile." Sakura replied. "Let's put water in the buckets we're not cooking right away so that the clams stay healthy."

"That's a good idea." Naruto agreed, taking the buckets over to the outdoor tap and filling them with water. While he did that, Sakura set up the wood in the fire pit, and started the cook fire. It would need to burn for a few minutes before it got hot enough to cook with. Then she turned to the cauldron which was sitting nearby, and peeked into it.

"Oh," she said, pleasantly surprised.

"What is it?" Naruto asked from over by the tap.

"The cook put packets of spices in the cauldron, and some butter," she responded, pulling out the small fine-meshed bags of spice, and a clay crock of butter. There were six packets, more than enough for the four buckets of clams she had. They would certainly help. _Coquilla_ were good on their own, but they were even better when boiled in spiced water and then buttered after the water was drained out. She was clearly expected to eat the clams. Sakura had no problems with that idea, provided she had help. The idea of wasting them didn't sit well with her.

"Hey that's great!" Naruto said. "I think this is going to be fun!"

"You may be right," she replied, as she set the spice packets aside and carefully transferred the clams from one bucket into the cauldron. She dumped out the small amount of sand that had accumulated on the bottom of the bucket and rinsed it, before filling it with water to fill the cauldron. Getting the cauldron on its hook over the fire was child's play with her super strength. She tossed in one spice packet. Now, all she had to do was wait for it to boil a little while, and she'd have a steaming pot of _coquilla_ to enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8

**And the concensus is... APATHY! No one cares about forums, except for two of you. I might put one up anyway and people can use it, or not, whatever. **

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**Enjoy your hot, fresh, chapter 8!

* * *

**Chapter 8

The pot of clams smelled pretty tasty fairly quickly. Sakura realized suddenly that she hadn't had breakfast yet as her stomach rumbled. Naruto was watching the pot avidly. She thought he might be drooling a little.

"Hungry?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," he said. "This is going to be _great_! The only thing better than a big cauldron of _coquilla_ with butter and spices would be a big cauldron of _coquilla_ with butter and spices and ramen," he said. "And some more people here. It doesn't feel like a clam boil until you have more people."

Sakura laughed. Ramen? And this was a task for the gods, not a real clam boil. She said as much to him.

"Well, that doesn't mean we can't make it a real clam boil," he said. "There's nothing in the pilgrimage that says you can't have _fun_ doing it."

"I guess so," she giggled. "I told my two friends Ino and Hinata about it, but they don't like _coquilla_."

"See, that's your mistake. You need to tell other people, like boys. Boys are always hungry." Naruto said.

"Maybe you should help me find some to help me eat these clams, then," she said.

"After this pot maybe," he grinned, licking his lips. She laughed. Sakura quite liked this sunny young novice of the Nine Tails. He was friendly and funny, and helpful besides. She wasn't attracted to him like she was Gaara – instead he'd slipped firmly into the space of a friend in her mind. He seemed quite happy to be a friend. Somehow, it felt like she'd known him forever, even though she only met him yesterday. On an instinctive level she felt able to trust him, and knew with certainty that he would remain a good friend and never betray that trust.

"You know what we could use?" Sakura said.

"What's that?" Naruto asked. "Besides ramen, of course."

"Corn and biscuits," she said.

Naruto blinked, and then grinned widely. "Yeah, that _would_ be good," he agreed. "Maybe after this pot I'll go see if I can find some for us," he offered.

"That works." Sakura grinned back. "We might need more mouths."

"Are you sure? I can eat a _lot_ of _coquilla_." Naruto declared. Sakura laughed.

The first batch was finally ready, and Naruto helped her drain off the water. She stirred butter into the hot, cooked clams, and both youths inhaled the tantalizing scent of spiced, buttered clams eagerly.

"I'm glad it's done." Sakura said hungrily.

"Me too." Naruto agreed.

She pulled the empty bucket over for the rejected shells, and reached into the cauldron. _Coquilla_ were easy to shell, but only if one didn't care about the state of the shell. The usual way to get the clam out was to take hold of either side of the seam of the clam (which should be open a millimetre or two in a good clam) and peel them backwards. This usually resulted in the shells cracking and breaking. The rainbow halves were paper thin and fragile as eggshell.

Sakura took her first clam, carefully attempting to peel off the shell without cracking it. It would be high luck indeed if she succeeded in her task on the first try. But then of course she'd have three more buckets of clams to eat, still.

As it was, she was worrying for nothing. The clam cracked the moment she exerted the slightest bit of force. "Crud," she said.

"You cracked it?" Naruto asked, sitting beside her on the bench and peering at her handiwork intently.

"Yeah," she said.

"Well then I can eat it!" He reached over and took the clam from her hands, and she gave him a slightly annoyed look. "Hey it's not like I can shell them. You gotta do that, right?" He defended.

"Yeah but maybe I wanted that one," she said.

"There's lots more," he pointed out.

She reached into the pot and withdrew a small handful of clams gently. A quick glance revealed that a few of them were already cracked. Wordlessly, she handed these to Naruto, who gleefully accepted them once he realized they were already broken. She began to shell the ones she had left, muttering imprecations when she broke every one. Then she ate them.

_Coquilla_ sure were delicious. That was seriously the only saving grace here right now. Sakura quickly realized that this was going to take a while.

When they'd finished the first pot with nothing to show for it but broken shells, Sakura realized she was in trouble. Naruto might be up for more, but she was already full.

"Then we're going to need helpers." Naruto said. "I'll go see if I can find some."

He left while she got the cauldron ready to go again, with the next bucket of clams. By the time the spiced water was beginning to boil, Naruto was back, with company. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw who the young man had brought with him.

"I found some hungry people for us!" The golden-haired boy said enthusiastically.

"Ahh, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chōji, Lee… Gaara. I hope you really _are_ hungry. I've got a lot of clams," she said, greeting the five young men accompanying Naruto. Gaara met her eyes as she greeted him, and she was unable to look away for a moment. He smiled at her briefly, and she felt a shiver go all the way down her back. A pleasant shiver.

"Yeah, well I heard you were doing the shelling so I came. I hate shelling those but they're sure delicious." Shikamaru said.

"I'll always help you eat, Sakura." Chōji said, predictably.

"Hey, who turns down free food?" Kiba agreed with the large novice. He'd left his great big white dog behind, at least.

"And who could turn away a chance to help you, Sakura?" Lee exclaimed.

"Indeed." Gaara said. "I think your clams are done."

Sakura glanced at the pot. The clams, as Gaara had pointed out, were definitely done. She went to go drain off the water, and immediately Kiba, Chōji and Lee leaped up to help her. She stood back and watched as the three teens fought over the privilege of draining the pot.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto interrupted her observation of the cauldron-spat.

"Huh?" She turned to face him.

"I found my pen friend. This is Gaara of the Desert!" He said. The blond put his arm around Gaara, who almost looked about to smile.

Sakura's stared at them both. Alright, maybe it wasn't _that_ big of a coincidence. She'd already decided the world didn't revolve around Gaara. "Oh, I'm glad, Naruto. I've met him already though," she said. "You don't need to introduce us."

Gaara _did_ smile, briefly, at that. Especially when Naruto gave him a surprised look. "Oy, Gaara, you didn't tell me you knew Sakura!"

"_You_ didn't tell me we were going to help Sakura with her task. You just said it was a friend who had to shell _coquilla_ until they got a perfect shell. You make friends pretty fast, considering you only sailed in yesterday at noon." Gaara retorted. "Hello Sakura. You didn't tell me you were going on pilgrimage," he said, quietly.

"Hello Gaara. I decided yesterday, and I ran into Naruto when I went to get my task from the Nine Tails," she said. She didn't mention that he'd been the one to finally convince her the other day in the garden, on his birthday. His ego was big enough as it was.

"You're starting with the Nine Tails? Why?" Gaara asked.

She shrugged. "I thought I could use the luck. We can do it in any order, right?" She replied.

"Maybe you should have started with the One Tails." Gaara smirked. "Or did you want to save the best for last?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes at him, which did nothing to remove the smirk from his face.

"Hey, are you going to shell us some clams? I'm hungry." Shikamaru whined. Sakura spun around and glared at him. He seemed impervious to her ire. "Well?" He said.

"I'm getting on it!" She said.

Shelling for six hungry young men proved to be a task beyond Sakura's ability, and somehow a work detail got organized whereby Gaara and Lee searched for candidate _coquilla_ from the cauldron while the rest of them ate the rejects. It didn't take long before they made their way through the second pot and started looking around for more, and Sakura still hadn't found a perfect shell yet.

As the third pot was starting to boil, Ino and Hinata wandered in to the cook pit. "Oh my god, Forehead, you didn't tell me that you were going to be having a party!" Ino said. Then she spotted Shikamaru and blushed. The young acolyte of the Four Tails spotted her and froze mid-clam munch, blushing too.

"Uh, hi Ino." Said Shikamaru, scratching behind his pineapple-like ponytail with his clam-free hand.

"Shika!" She barked. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard there was free food," he shrugged. "I was hoping not to shell any…"

"You're so lazy!" Ino stamped her foot. "Did you get your perfect shell yet, Sakura?"

"No, not yet." Sakura admitted. "Are you going to have one?"

"I supposed I'd better. For _solidarity_." Ino grinned, reaching into the pile of rejects and selecting a clam. She peeled it open and ate it, then gagged dramatically. Sakura rolled her eyes.

Hinata, who had kind of been staying out of sight until that moment, giggled.

"Oh, hey, Sakura, who are your friends?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, sorry Naruto. Ino, Hinata, this is Naruto, he came in from the Island yesterday from the Nine Tails' head temple. He helped me lug all these clams up here." Sakura said, and Naruto grinned as she introduced him. "And this is my friends Ino and Hinata."

"Pleased to meet you, Ino, Hinata!" The blond said, grinning so brightly his eyes were squeezed shut.

"Uh, hi." Ino said.

"Pleased to meet you too…" Hinata said. Naruto chose that moment to open his eyes. Sakura saw the exact moment where those blue eyes met pale lavender Hyūga eyes, and she watched in amazement as Hinata and Naruto stared at each other, both completely silent. Naruto appeared to be gaping in amazement. Hinata blushed deeply.

"You're friend's not 18 yet, is she?" Gaara whispered quietly in Sakura's ear, and she nearly jumped at his unexpected closeness.

"She's the same age as me, well, she just turned 17." Sakura whispered back.

"You might have company in the kitchen." Gaara observed, his warm breath tickling her ear and making her shiver.

"Oh shut up," she snapped back, tossing him a glare. He smirked at her. But it appeared that Gaara might be right. Hinata and Naruto seemed to have developed an instant fascination with each other, to the point where Hinata even bravely faked liking the _coquilla_ that Naruto handed to her. The shy girl was smiling tremulously and hanging on every word from the over-energetic novice of the Nine Tails.

"You'd better get shelling." Gaara said, interrupting her casual observation.

"Gaara is right, you will not succeed in your task if you do not start shelling again!" Lee exclaimed from right behind her. Sakura jerked in surprise and turned to give Lee a quelling look.

"I'm on it," she said, turning back to the pile of candidates for perfection that Gaara and Lee had sorted out for her. Their rivalry was still there. They had competed to find the 'best' clams for her, and Sakura found their antics at once amusing and slightly annoying.

Somehow this whole ordeal had taken on a slightly festive, celebratory air, with everyone laughing, talking, and joking around. She etched the occasion into her mind, to remember this day at times when things weren't going her way. The others, with the exception of Naruto and Gaara, were all friends from her initiate days. Most of them were still novices, but Shikamaru and Lee had both achieved acolyte within the last year.

As the pile of cooked _coquilla _dwindled, Chōji started the final pot of clams for Sakura. She was quite happy to let him, her task only required that she find a perfect shell, it didn't require that she do all the work herself. She hoped this pot would have it, because she was getting sick of clams and she didn't want to have to come back tomorrow. She was grateful to Naruto for finding her friends. This was so much easier with her friends. Though how he'd known who to bring, she'd never know.

When the new pot boiled, Gaara and Lee went back to work sorting through the clams for her. Sakura began working on the growing pile of clams, carefully prying each one open until the critical crack occurred. She was using her chakra now to try to get them open, and having limited success. Limited, because it appeared to delay the cracking, but never quite eliminated it altogether.

She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Gaara was quick to ask at her sigh.

"This is never going to happen," she said. "I'm going to be sitting here shelling clams for eternity." Idly her hands moved on the clam she was shelling, repeating the same motions she'd made countless times before already today.

"Are you so sure of that?" Gaara asked her, smirking.

"It seems like it. I mean I've been here since this morning doing nothing but shell _coquilla_ all day, and it's already late afternoon," she said.

"Are you certain?" His smirk turned into a mischievous grin.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and glared at him, wondering what he was up to. "Well, I sure haven't had success _yet_, have I?" She snarked.

"I think you should look at what's in your hands," he suggested.

Sakura peeked down, and nearly fell over when she noticed what her latest efforts had produced. Somehow, she'd managed to separate the clam from its shell without breaking the shell. While she stared wide-eyed at the shell, Gaara reached over and deftly took the clam meat, popping it in his mouth.

"Looks like you've finished your first task," he commented mildly.

"I did it! _Guys, I did it!_" She yelled gleefully.

"Oh you got it? Can I see?" Naruto tore his attention away from Hinata for one moment to peer at her. The next thing she knew, Sakura was surrounded by her friends, who were all demanding to see the shell.

"Be careful, you don't want to break it." Gaara warned.

"I _know!_ Please stand back guys." Sakura said. The shinobi crowding her all took a step back. She took a better look at the shell. The delicate nacre of the inner halves of the shell shone in rainbow colours. Carefully, she turned it over with shaking hands. The exterior was beautiful, with the characteristic banded lines of strong blues and purples and reds. It was perfect. "It's just right," she said. "I need to go bring this to the Nine Tails' temple before something happens to it."

Chōji made a nasal sound. "What's going to happen to the rest of the clams?" He asked.

"I don't care, eat them!" Sakura beamed. Chōji looked more than happy to comply. She stood, cradling the shell carefully in her palms, not daring to move her hands for fear of somehow breaking the shell. "I need to get this to the god, right away," she repeated.

"I'll come with you." Gaara said, standing up from the stone bench.

"Me too. It's my patron after all." Naruto said.

"Can I come too?" Hinata asked, and then she blushed. Sakura had no doubt that her friend wanted to maximize the time she spent getting to know Naruto further.

"Of course you can." Sakura said.

"We'll stay here and help clean up the clams." Chōji said. Kiba nodded, fang showing through his grin. Shikamaru looked bored, and Lee looked about ready to jump up and volunteer to help escort Sakura to the Nine Tails' temple as well. Gaara linked gazes with him, and stared him down.

"I will stay and help clean up the fire pit." Lee said. Gaara's mouth twisted into a smirk.

"Good luck Forehead, and congratulations!" Ino said.

"Thanks, Ino-pig!" Sakura called, as Gaara put an almost paternalistic hand on her shoulder and motioned for her to leave.

"You'd better move quickly. Who knows what could happen. A passing breeze might shatter it," he said, teasingly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but she left the outdoor cook pit, walking cautiously to the Nine Tails' temple. Normally she would travel faster; over walls and roofs and trees, leaping across pathways and generally using her ninja skills to move quickly. But with the precious cargo in her hands, it was better to walk. Gaara, Hinata and Naruto kept pace with her, Gaara choosing to be silent while Naruto chattered as usual, and Hinata hung on his every word. Sakura looked over from time to time to see her blushing at something or another that the blond ninja said.

Inside the walls of the Nine Tails' compound, they rushed as fast as Sakura was willing to walk towards the shrine. Naruto gleefully announced that she'd completed her first task to anyone who looked their way as they passed. At that news, she got thumbs-up and cheers. Her spirits were soaring. This was a lot more exciting than she thought it would be. Yes, the task had aspects of being a chore, but there was also much to recommend it; it brought a bunch of her friends together having a good time, and the sense of satisfaction she felt at accomplishing it was well worth the effort. As long as she could make her offering before something happened to the shell!

They made it to the shrine, and Gaara gave her a clap on the shoulder and a little push towards the obelisk. He leaned up against a pillar with his arms crossed, much as she had seen him the first time they met. Naruto and Hinata stood nearby, watching, as Sakura walked to the offering pile and reverently, gently, laid the _coquilla_ shell on the top of the offerings, closing her eyes in prayer.

'_I have brought a perfect _coquilla_ shell. May it be acceptable in Your eyes.'_ She prayed, mumbling the words under her breath. Once more, she was filled with that sense of presence. She was greeted, and her offering was accepted. Her sense of satisfaction and pleasure deepened as she felt the god's approval of the completion of her task. She rose with a feeling of having been acknowledged and blessed. She smiled.

"Congratulations on finishing your first task." Gaara said from his pillar, giving her one of his rare genuine smiles. Hinata scampered over to her and hugged her excitedly.

"That didn't seem so bad!" The dark-haired Hyūga said. "Maybe I'll start my pilgrimage soon, too."

"Uh, yeah that wasn't bad at all!" Naruto agreed. "I should really do mine," he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Damn straight you should." Gaara agreed, giving his blond-haired friend a smirk.

"Maybe I'll start it… next week, yeah!" Naruto said.

"Why not tomorrow?" Gaara asked.

"Well because uh… well, Sakura might need help on hers!" Naruto said.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, but thanks for the offer, Naruto." Sakura said, grinning.

"So what are you going to do next, then, Sakura?" Gaara asked.

"The Eight Tails," she replied.

"The Eight Tails!" Gaara said, sounding slightly insulted. "Why not the One Tail?"

"I'll get to the One Tail when I get to the One Tail," she retorted. "I'm doing the Eight Tails next because I want to." They left the shrine, making their way out of the temple.

"You should tell Lee you're going to his god next." Hinata suggested. Gaara gave a slight dismissive snort at that idea, but Sakura felt it had merit.

"Yeah. Let's get back to the fire pit. I need to make sure things are all cleaned up – I got permission to use it and I shouldn't abuse it by leaving it a mess." Sakura said.

"Plus there may still be clams left!" Naruto noted.

"It's clear you've just met Chōji!" Sakura laughed. At that, the blond looked a little worried.

"Would he eat them _all_?" Naruto asked. Hinata covered her mouth and giggled at his reaction.

"Probably." Sakura said. Naruto looked crestfallen. "The quicker we get back, the more likely it is that there'll still be a few left for you, Naruto."

The young ninja perked up again at that. Hinata giggled again. Gaara gave an amused half-smile. They made it to the cook pit, where Chōji was rapidly consuming clams while Lee piled empty, broken shells into the empty clam buckets. Shikamaru and Kiba were on their backs in the grass nearby, looking up at the clouds with their hands behind their heads. Ino was sitting near them, idly twirling a few blades of grass.

"Oh, welcome back, Sakura! Was your offering well received?" Lee question-exclaimed as they entered the area.

"It was!" Sakura said, triumphantly. "I'm going to the Eight Tails tomorrow for my task."

"I'm glad! But I have to ask, why not tonight?" Lee said.

Sakura laughed at his enthusiasm, ignoring Gaara's slightly annoyed glance at Lee. "Because I think it's a good idea to start something like that with a good night's sleep," she replied.

"A good night's rest is the key to a youthful day!" Lee agreed, to which most of the teens rolled their eyes.

Naruto went over to Chōji, where he was relieved to discover that there were a small number of clams left. He and the large Akamichi wrangled over the last few clams. Hinata went and sat by Ino. Sakura helped Lee clean up the cook site, with Gaara observing from a bench, arms crossed.

"You can help too if you want, Gaara!" Lee exclaimed. Gaara shifted uncomfortably, frowning slightly. Then he got up and went to help, apparently guilted into it by his rivalry with Lee. Sakura hid her smirk as he shovelled handfuls of shells into the buckets. They cleaned the site fairly quickly with all three of them working together; and then before she knew it, all the debris was gathered up and the cook pits were clear. Chōji and Naruto finished their last few clams and tossed the shells into the buckets that had once upon a time held live _coquilla_.

"I need to take these shells to the compost. Then I need to return the cauldron." Sakura said.

Wordlessly, Gaara took the handles of the two buckets filled with shells, giving Sakura a look that suggested she lead on. Lee opened his mouth as if to protest, and then closed it again with a slight frown. Gaara's eyes flicked across the cook pit to the other acolyte's.

"Lead the way." Gaara said.

She picked up the other two buckets and together they took them to the Six Tails' compound's huge middens. The compost heap was large and smelly, and they dumped the shells out on top of it. The buckets she'd gotten with the clams, and she was thinking of donating them to the gardeners. Gardeners always needed more buckets. She nested the four while Gaara stood back, watching. He'd backed away from the middens as soon as they'd dumped the shells. She couldn't blame him.

"Come on, let's take these to the gardeners," she said.

"Gardeners?" He asked, mildly intrigued.

"I've never met a gardener who didn't like a good bucket," she said.

"I wouldn't know. I've never had much interaction with gardeners," he responded.

"Do they have gardens in the desert?"

"Yes. They're tended by specialists and they don't let novices or even acolytes in where they might mess things up. It's tricky growing anything there, and keeping things alive takes a lot of work."

"Oh," she said. "I had to spend several months working with the gardeners as part of my herbalism studies. Lady Tsunade said that a good healer should know how to grow her own medicines and how to identify them in their living form."

"Makes sense," he said. "Want me to carry those?"

"I can manage," she scrunched up her nose at him. He smirked back.

"Oh, Sakura, I heard you were on your pilgrimage. What are you doing over here? Are you doing something for the Five Tails?" As they approached the gardens, one of the gardeners; a young priest named Hōshō, spotted her and greeted her. Hōshō was a gentle man, almost unsuited for combat altogether. He'd managed to become indispensible at the gardens, and was well suited to the Six Tails' service. "Who is your friend?"

"Hello Hōshō. I just finished the task for the Nine Tails; I had to get a perfect _coquilla_," she said. Hōshō made a sympathetic face at that. "This is my friend Gaara, from the One Tail's temple. He helped me eat all those clams, with my other friends."

Gaara gave a half smile.

"I suppose that would require assistance." Hōshō agreed, working as he conversed. He was putting dark and fertile-looking dirt into boxes, preparing them for seedlings. The growing season would start soon.

"It helped to have extra mouths, and hands to pick through the pile for ones that might have a chance of being perfect," she agreed.

"Did you put the shells on the compost heap? Those would be a welcome addition to the pile." The priest asked.

"Yeah, Gaara helped me do that. I brought the buckets for the gardens," she said, bringing forward the stack of four nested buckets.

Hōshō stood up, dusting his dirt-covered hands off on his pant legs. "Oh, buckets! Wonderful. We can always use more buckets," he said, smiling. "Well good luck in your tasks, Sakura," he said, accepting the buckets.

"Thank you, Hōshō!" She replied, smiling back at him as they walked from the garden.

As soon as they were out of eyesight, Gaara asked, "so are you done?"

"Yeah, for today." Sakura agreed. "I need to take the cauldron ba—mmph," She didn't have time to finish her statement, as Gaara suddenly turned to her, wrapping his arms around her and sealing her mouth with his. She tried to keep her legs from going weak at the soft feel of his lips and the press of his tongue against hers.

He stopped the kiss, almost as abruptly as he began it. Both of them gasped for breath, arms still around each other. "Congratulations on your first task," he said. "Good luck tomorrow." Some inner part of her leaped, declaring '_if this is what I get for finishing a task, I should have gone on pilgrimage long ago!_' She attempted to stifle that rebellious inner Sakura.

"Thanks," she replied, a bit breathlessly.

"Let's get that cauldron back to your kitchen."

"Good idea."


	9. Chapter 9

**It's another fine Wednesday, and another fine update. Enjoy more of Sakura's tasks. There's going to be a lot of these. Nine to be exact. **

**There is now a forum. Unfortunately the nanny-bots at FF won't let me post a link to my own forum in the story, at least not as a link, but here it is broken up for you - replace spaces with slashes. Go to fanfiction(dot)net myforums errihu 1914434 for your chit chat fun. **

* * *

Chapter 9

The next morning Sakura awoke with a sense of purpose. Once more she showered, and took a quick breakfast in the refectory, and then she was charging off at full ninja speed to the temple of the Eight Tails. In her hand she carried a small stone carving of the Ox in his octopus-tailed glory, to use as an offering. She'd picked it up before the vendors had closed their stalls for the afternoon, the day before.

Lee met her at the gate to the temple. It was unsurprising, since she'd pretty much told him she'd be there.

"Sakura! I am so very glad that you have chosen to come to the temple of my god for your second task! I will escort you to the shrine!" Lee exclaimed. She smiled at him and followed him into the compound, going for the shrine.

Like before, she cleared her mind of all thoughts and distractions and knelt, presenting the carving in offering. As before, she became aware of the powerful presence of the god, turning its attention to her. It filled her. She presented her desire for a task. She sensed the god's amusement, and then her eyes flew open, and what she saw was not the shrine, but a view like that of a bird in flight.

Above the temple the god took her sight, flying over the streets, out of the city, and into the farmlands to the south, where farmers were beginning to break ground in order to get the season's crops in the dirt. She noted landmarks as she was taken past. And then she was brought to a small farmstead where the ploughing seemed oddly behind. The god brought her to the ground, where she saw an old man, a peasant farmer, struggling with a plough that was obviously not meant for a human to pull, trying to break the ground.

_Help him_. The masculine voice rang through her mind. _Then I shall be satisfied_.

'_I will_,' she promised silently. She sensed the god's approval of her conviction, and then his presence departed her abruptly. The world faded back into view, and she blinked at the obelisk in front of her. She rose, almost feeling as though her joints and sinews should creak at the motion, though they didn't. The weight of the god was not a physical thing; but it was hardly surprising to feel like this after contacting the Ox of hard work.

"Sakura! Have you received your task?" Lee asked as she turned away from the offering pile.

Sakura nodded. "I have to plough a field." Lee's mouth made an 'o' of surprise, though his eyes and eyebrows didn't change much. He pretty much had a permanent wide-eyed, intense, slightly insane look. She'd teased him and called him 'Eyebrows' when she was a child, but now she thought him somewhat endearing.

"My god is the god of hard work indeed!" Lee said.

"Yup." Sakura agreed. "I need to get going. Daylight is burning."

"Oh, of course! Did you need help?"

"This one I think I need to do on my own, Lee. But thanks for asking," she responded.

"Good luck, Sakura! Tell me how it goes!"

She went back to the Six Tails' temple to change into an outfit more appropriate for hard field labour, but that was the only delay she permitted herself before she followed the path the Eight Tails had shown her. Somewhat later in the morning, she arrived at the farmer's field. He was out there, pulling away at the heavy plough. He hadn't gotten much further than she had seen in the vision that the god had given her only an hour or two before.

Spotting Sakura standing at the beginning of his furrow, the old man put down his plough and sighed loudly. "What do you want, girl?" He called across the field. "Can't you see I'm busy? I got a crop to get in the ground."

Sakura walked along the plough line out to him.

"Didn't you hear me, girl? I can't stand around wasting time here. Damn ox died and now I gotta plough this field myself," he said.

"You don't have to plough the field yourself," she said, as she got close enough.

"Unless you got another ox you're hiding under your shirt, I do," he snorted, giving her a dismissive look.

"The Eight Tailed god has sent me. I will plough your field," she said.

He gaped at her, looking her up and down. "You have to be joking. You're just a slip of a girl," he protested. Sakura sighed, and then she walked up to the plough. Using her chakra-enhanced strength, she lifted the plough clear of the ground, one-handed and clearly with little effort. The farmer stared at her, mouth open and wide-eyed.

"I'm stronger than I look," she said calmly, putting the plough down.

"Alright girl, I believe you. You can help me plough the field," he looked at her closely. "You ever used a plough before?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Well then, lemme teach you. I'll drive it, you pull it, and between the two of us we might just get this wheat into the ground on time."

Hard work was really the only accurate description that worked for this activity. By noon, Sakura was sweating and covered with dirt, and the two of them had ploughed a significant portion of the field. The farmer, whose name was Yasuo, declared a break, in which his wife, a plump, friendly, gray-haired old woman, had brought them fresh juice and a meat pie. After lunch, they went back to ploughing.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, they'd gotten a little over half the field ploughed. It was far, far more than the poor farmer would have been able to do himself. The farmer and his wife invited her to eat with them, and she agreed. Over dinner (which she shovelled into her mouth with somewhat unbecoming haste, but which both the farmer and his wife ate with equal gusto), she answered their questions in between mouthfuls of the hearty, delicious peasant fare.

"So do you belong to the Ox then?" the farmer's wife, Kaoru, asked.

"No, I'm the Slug's. But I'm doing my pilgrimage," she replied.

"Well I'll be, he _does_ listen to prayers." Yasuo said. "When old Zorimaru died, I burned a cone of incense and prayed to the Eight Tails to help me get this field ploughed in time. And then the next day _you_ show up and do half a field in a day."

Sakura nodded. "I'll be back tomorrow to finish the job."

"Come by at dawn. It's the best time to get work done." The farmer advised.

"Pilgrimage or not, we thank you, girl. Without you our field would not grow any wheat this year." Kaoru said. Her husband nodded glumly.

"I've always made my sacrifices to the Eight Tails and the Five Tails. That one of the gods would send even a novice out to help me in my time of need, it warms my heart. I'll tithe of my best wheat to the temples at harvest." Yasuo said.

They finished their meal and Sakura made her weary way back to her cell, and had enough energy left for a shower to remove the day's dirt before passing out in her narrow novice's bed. The next morning she rose before dawn, grabbing something portable from the kitchens on her way out of the temple. She ate it as she ran down the streets and out of the city, finishing it before she got to the roads leading out of town.

Yasuo was already out, preparing the plough for another day. Sakura reached his farm just as the sun was beginning to rise. "Good, girl, you're on time. I'll need to send my thanks to the temple; the god sent me a good helper," he smiled. Sakura felt oddly pleased by the praise.

Another long, hard day of ploughing, and by the time the afternoon rolled around, Sakura and Yasuo had finished the field. Sakura sat down in the dirt beside the plough, concentrating on just breathing. Her legs and arms felt like jelly.

"You did good, kid," the farmer said to her. "Without you, I would have never got this dirt turned." She nodded at his words.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"Well, now I spread the seeds for this season's crop," he replied.

"Do you want help?" She offered, rising from the dirt. Yasuo looked at her in surprise.

"Your task is done, girl, you don't need to stay and help more," he said. "You've done more than enough."

"I want to help, though," she insisted. She'd come to like the old farmer. They'd spoken as much as they could while she'd been pulling the plough. She hadn't thought a farmer could be so interesting, but Yasuo had a lot of good stories about the region. He was a bit of a gossip, it seemed. And he had a lot of wisdom about the land. Sakura, who had been born on the frontier but raised in the city, was fascinated by all the rural talk and hung on his every word.

"Well, if that's the case, come with me. It won't take us long with two of us working," he said. He led her to the barn, where traces of the ox who had lived here not long ago still remained in the tufts of fur wedged into the boards where the old animal had rubbed his hide against the stall, and in the presence of the yoke and buckets for water and feed. There was a bag of seeds, carefully stored from the last season. Yasuo began to heft it out of the barn, but Sakura intervened, using her mighty strength to easily move the bag.

"Alright, what do we do?" she asked, looking out at the field. It was well ploughed. The first few rows she made were a little shaky, but once she had gotten the hang of it, the rows they'd made were straight and fine.

"Scatter the seed all over the field." Yasuo replied. Taking a handful of wheat, he demonstrated. Sakura carried the large bag, following behind him, taking handfuls of her own and spreading them the same way as he did. Once more, they worked until the sun began to sink below the western horizon, and between the two of them, managed to get the field sown.

Yasuo and Kaoru invited her once more for supper, and she did not refuse. By the time she got back to the temple, the refectory would be cleaned out. And Kaoru cooked a hearty meal. She ate with relish, feeling satisfied with a job well done. At the end of the meal, Yasuo and Kaoru both thanked her, and she smiled, feeling happy that she could help.

"Good luck, girl. You'll make a fine priest," Yasuo said, as she prepared to return to the temple.

"Thank you, Yasuo. Good luck with your harvest," she replied.

"All we need now is a little rain," he remarked.

She laughed. "I can't do anything about rain, but I hope you get some. Take care!"

"You too, girl." Both the farmer and his wife waved for a long time as she walked away, waving back and smiling. She was exhausted by the time she returned to the temple, with just enough energy to shower and fall into her bed. She would return to the Eight Tails in the morning.

As the sun started to peek into her cell, Sakura rose. She'd allowed herself just a little bit of time to sleep in. After the last few days of hard work, she felt like she deserved it. Yawning and stretching, she rose and made her way to the showers, and then to the refectory to catch what she could before heading to the Eight Tails' temple.

Lee spotted her on her way in and greeted her. "Sakura! I am very happy to see you! Have you finished your task already?"

"Yes I have!" She replied with a sunny smile.

"Oh that is excellent news!" Lee exclaimed. He followed her to the shrine, and she didn't mind. Lee was charming, even if he came on a bit enthusiastic, almost scarily so.

In the shrine she knelt at the obelisk, clearing her mind in prayer. As had happened in the Nine Tails' temple, she felt the presence of the god fill her, acknowledging her achievement of the task. To her surprise, the god noted that she had also sown the field, which had not been part of the task. She felt his appreciation for that selfless act of hard work for another person. Once again, as the god departed, she rose with a sense of having been blessed.

"Did the Eight Tails accept your task as complete?" Lee asked her as she turned from the shrine.

"He did. I did something extra and he liked that. Lee, what is a blessing from your god like?"

"Uh…" He looked off into the distance, clearly thinking. "I have heard that those who are blessed by the god experience greater stamina, both physically and in chakra! Do you think he blessed you?"

"That was the feeling I got," she replied.

"It may be so! I hope so, Sakura! What task will you do now?"

"I think I'll go to the Seven Tails," she said, as they exited the temple. They walked through the gates, and immediately spotted Gaara leaning against a wall, arms crossed. The ghost of a smile touched his lips at the sight of Sakura. Smoothly, he rose and walked to join them. Sakura wondered briefly if he'd been waiting for her. He sure wasn't waiting for _Lee_.

"Sakura," he gave her an acknowledging nod as he joined them. "Lee," he greeted, almost as an afterthought.

"Good morning Gaara!" Lee said.

"Hello," Sakura greeted.

"How did your task go? I take it that you're done…" Gaara said, stepping into place beside her as they walked. Once more, she found herself flanked by Lee and Gaara. He didn't ask where they were going, but somehow he matched pace with them effortlessly. Sakura could admit to herself that he was clearly very skilled.

"Yeah it's done. I had to plough a farmer's field. Yasuo's ox died," she replied.

"So you played ox for two days?" The redhead's voice was slightly amused.

"The ox is a very noble beast!" Lee interjected.

"I'm not disputing that." Gaara glared at Lee over Sakura's head. She wished he would stop doing that.

"Yes, I pulled the plough," Sakura smiled. "And afterwards I helped him sow his field. That was extra. The Eight Tails apparently liked that touch."

"Sakura is a very hard worker! She would be welcomed into the Eight Tails' clergy if she so chose!" Lee exclaimed.

"She's a pretty good fighter, too." Gaara insisted. "She wouldn't be unwelcome in the One Tail's clergy."

Sakura could tell this was going to escalate into some sort of inane argument over which god she should have been dedicated to. She could see Lee's mouth opening to reply. "Enough!" She growled, interrupting the nascent argument. "I'm dedicated to the Six Tails. And it's where I belong. Lee, you should know that, who was it who fixed your leg when you broke it?"

Lee looked mildly quelled. "You, Sakura!"

"And who fixed your arms when you turned them black and blue after spending six hours straight training in blocking?" she demanded.

"It was you, Sakura!" The black-haired boy admitted.

"I don't even know how you can say I could be anything other than a healer after that."

"It is true; you are a very good healer! I apologize, Sakura!" Lee said, chagrined.

Somewhat mollified, she turned to Gaara. "_You_ haven't seen me heal yet, but if you keep _that_ up, you're going to _need_ healing!" She glared at him.

He feigned innocence with a 'who _me_?' look. She glared back harder in response. He smirked. Well, he liked to tease her, that much was clear.

They turned into the Seven Tails' temple gates, going down the walkway. The statues of the god were frightening, depicting its armoured, beetle-like appearance and wing-like tails. Sakura supposed it was appropriate for the Seven Tails to be fearsome, as she was the personification of death and decay. She knew death and decay were a necessary part of life, but the Seven Tails was still her least favourite god in the pantheon.

"Sakura?" A somewhat familiar voice was heard as she and her two 'escorts' approached the doors of the temple. They halted, and she looked over, recognizing the tall acolyte. It was hard not to recognize Shino, even though she didn't actually know _what_ he looked like. His signature dark glasses still obscured any view of his eyes, and only the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones were visible above the high collar covering his mouth and lower face.

"Oh, Shino!" she said. "Hello."

"Are you here for your task?" he asked.

"You heard the rumour did you?" she replied. He nodded.

"I had heard that you had completed a task for the Nine Tails and had sought a task for the Eight Tails."

"Methodical, aren't you, doing them in reverse order like that." Gaara commented near her ear, his voice pitched to carry just to her. She hoped the blush he instigated had gone unnoticed by anyone else.

"Come with me. I will show you to the shrine." Shino offered. The three of them followed him into the Seven Tails' temple. Sakura hadn't been there before except once as a young initiate, in which she'd been so grossed out by the idea of a bug god to pay much attention to what was going on. She must have been five or six years old at the time. Now, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the temple didn't seem all that much different from the others she'd been in. Associations with death and decay aside, the clergy of the Seven Tails kept their temple well lit and orderly, and there were _no _funny smells. She'd kind of expected that the temple would smell like decay, or something.

The shrine, too, was reassuringly normal. Sakura removed her offering from her ninja pouches, a small vial of poison that she had created herself. It was the first time she had created a poison instead of an antidote. She laid it in front of the obelisk in one of the offering piles for non-edibles, and knelt, blanking her mind for prayer. She squelched the nervousness she felt.

The touch of the Seven Tails was alien at first, but Sakura found herself opening to her. The touch of the divine entity was reassuring and gentle, the god presenting herself as part of the natural cycle. In that moment, Sakura knew that death was nothing to be feared. The nervousness and fear she felt fled.

Then the god showed her what she wanted from the novice. Sakura saw a vision of the jungle at night. In the trees she saw a small primate, clinging to a branch. It had huge, wide eyes, and very long, delicate-looking hands. Sakura watched as the creature decayed before her eyes rapidly, fur falling away, flesh desiccating and vanishing, until it was a skeleton, still gripping the branch. The god had told the young ninja what she wanted. Sakura understood what she was to do for the Seven Tails.

The presence receded, and Sakura opened her eyes with an inhaled breath, standing. She turned back to the three young men who were waiting for her. All three of them were silent, and there was a clear tension in the air between Gaara and Lee, both of whom shifted uncomfortably when she gave them a look that asked what their problem was. Shino, on the other hand, seemed indifferent to the other two youths.

"Did you get your task?" Gaara asked as Lee opened his mouth (probably to ask the same thing). The acolyte of the Eight Tails looked ever so slightly miffed. Sakura stifled the urge to roll her eyes at their antics.

"Yes. I need to go into the jungle and get this animal, and then I need to mount its skeleton," she explained.

Shino nodded slightly. "It's a common task. She likes to send people to make skeletons for the temple's collection. We use them to do research on anatomy."

Sakura didn't know whether to feel relieved or not that the task seemed to be one assigned frequently.

Shino was continuing, however. "Do you know what kind of animal she wanted?"

"No," Sakura admitted, hesitantly. "I don't. All I know is that it lives in the jungle and it's active at night."

"Then you should probably go to one of the libraries and look it up." Shino suggested quietly. Sakura agreed.

"I think I might have to go to the one in the city," she said.

"That sounds likely. I know my temple has mostly books on battle and tactics, but not animals in the jungle." Gaara said.

"My library is also not likely to be helpful!" Lee said.

"If she's sent you to get something, it will be something we don't already have in the collection. Our library won't help." Shino mentioned.

"I don't know how to prepare it once I catch it, though." Sakura admitted.

The lenses of Shino's dark glasses flashed as he looked over to her. "_That_, our library can help you with. You should probably find out what you will need to do before you set out."

Sakura nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. May I use your library?"

"Of course. Follow me." Shino turned and silently walked out of the shrine. Sakura followed him, Gaara and Lee trailing behind her. The quiet young man led them through the halls of the temple, to the library. "I will retrieve the books with the techniques for corpse preparation." Shino gestured for them to take a seat at one of the empty tables, and they did. The tall young man went to the shelves, obviously knowing where to look.

"Did you have to make skeletons too?" Sakura asked Gaara and Lee quietly as Shino searched for books.

"I had to make poison." Gaara said.

"I had to make a flute out of a bird's bone." Lee told them.

"I had to prepare a mouse through taxidermy." Shino said, arriving with the books. "I had already prepared and mounted several skeletons, so they would not have been challenging to me. The mouse was. Small creatures are very tricky to work with. You will find what you need in these books, Sakura." It was quite possibly the most words either Lee or Sakura had ever heard from Shino at one time.

"Thank you, Shino," she said, turning to the first book in the pile studiously.

"I am glad to help," he replied quietly, as she began to read.


	10. Chapter 10

**Yeah, the gods' tasks are weird. They're supposed to be both appropriate to that particular god, and somewhat confusing to mortals. If you have questions, there's a forum now (link is on my profile), and I'll actually answer them. I'll mark spoilers for people who don't want it spoiled so you can avoid it.**

**I love that you readers seem to be as excited about this fic as I am. Honestly, your comments and excitement have helped _me_ get back in the saddle and get writing. I appreciate knowing that you're out there, and knowing your thoughts and feelings on this story.

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Chapter 10

Gaara and Lee became rather obviously bored, rather quickly. Finally Sakura got so tired of their fidgeting and sighing that she put down the book she was studying and glared at them.

"Look, if you two are having such a hard time sitting quietly, why don't you go spar or something?" She snapped.

Both of them froze as though they'd been caught doing something wrong. Sakura sighed.

"Well?" She demanded. They were silent for a moment, and then Lee shifted uncomfortably.

"Sakura is correct, I am neglecting my training! Good luck on your task, Sakura!" The dark-haired, fuzzy-browed shinobi declared.

"I'll train with you." Gaara said, and somehow it didn't sound like forced reluctance, although he did sound slightly miffed. "You owe me a rematch anyway. Your taijutsu against my ninjutsu?"

"That is a youthful idea! Let us go to the training grounds and find out who is the better shinobi!" Lee agreed. Both young men rose from the table.

"Good luck, Sakura." Gaara stated, as he turned to leave. She gave him a slight smile in return.

"Indeed! I hope you find all the information you need!" Lee exclaimed as they left.

"Sakura," Shino said quietly, after both Gaara and Lee had left. "I'm sorry if this is too personal, but are you 18 yet? I was under the impression that you were in the same year as me."

Sakura blushed. So Shino had noticed, or suspected something. "No, I'm 16. I'll be 17 in two months," she said quietly.

Shino nodded thoughtfully. "You'll need to be careful to avoid punishment duty."

"It's not _me_ who's the problem!" She hissed. Shino quirked his head at her in an inquiring fashion. Sakura waved her hand exasperatedly. "I mean, I'm not the one initiating things here. It's Gaara. And now it looks like he and Lee have some kind of stupid rivalry going on."

The crinkle around Shino's eyes told her he was slightly amused by that. "I noticed. But you favour this Gaara? I don't remember him, is he new here?"

She'd never figured _Shino_ for a gossip. She flashed him a glare which did nothing to daunt his inquiry. Inquiring eyebrows had to know…

"He's from the One Tail's head temple out at Toriyama City in the desert," she muttered. "He's been here for a few months I guess. I don't know him all that well yet."

"But you like him." Shino stated.

Sakura blushed. Yeah, she liked Gaara. Gods only knew _why_, but yes, she _really_ liked Gaara. The swiftness and strength of those feelings surprised her and confused her somewhat. She'd always considered herself level-headed and sensible. Falling hard for a boy she hardly knew wasn't exactly high on the list of level-headedness _or _sensibility.

What startled her though, was the feeling that if it came down to a contest between Gaara and Lee (or Gaara and anyone else for that matter), it would be Gaara who won, hands down. She couldn't honestly explain the attraction. It wasn't just his looks (though he _was_ very good looking), and it certainly wasn't his cavalier and sometimes even overbearingly smug attitude. It was something else, something she couldn't quite pinpoint; a sense of _rightness_ that she's never felt before or even considered possible. She knew she should probably object to his possessiveness more than she had, but she didn't; largely because she knew if some girl started showing an interest in him, she'd feel the same damn way - possessive.

"Yeah, gods help me, I do," she admitted.

"Then be careful."

"I will, Shino. Now if only he'd stop trying to sneak illegal kisses I'd be just fine," she muttered acidly. Something about the crinkle around Shino's eyes informed her that he was smiling again. At least he found it amusing and _wasn't_ trying to join in the rivalry or something. Shino was a nice guy, but he was… well, creepy. Sakura was relieved that he didn't seem to be interested in her for anything more than a bit of choice gossip.

She spent an hour or two reading through books while Shino sat at the table and read something of his own. So far, it looked like her choices for preparing the bones were maceration and beetles. Maceration sounded like a long (and smelly) process, and she wasn't so thrilled about the idea. Beetles sounded faster, but where was she going to get those? Wait… Shino was an Aburame, wasn't he – they were known for using bugs. Come to think of it the Aburame family were often associated with the Seven Tails' dedicated.

"Shino," she began, and the acolyte looked up from his book.

"Yes?"

"I don't think maceration will work for me right now, but the books say that there are other ways to do this. Do you know any bugs that are good for removing flesh from bones?" She looked at him hopefully.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I have used my insects to prepare corpses for mounting in the past," he admitted. "Before you ask, yes, I would be happy to help you. The god wants the skeleton, if you have help with some stages of preparing it, she won't consider it cheating," he seemed pretty confident about that. If he was, she was.

"Thank you."

He nodded briefly in response.

"I need to go find out what kind of animal it is that she wants." Sakura said, rising. "Thanks for the help with the books, Shino."

"I'm glad I could help, Sakura. Good luck." Shino replied, going back to his book.

She decided to sneak by the training grounds to make sure that both Gaara and Lee were still alive. What she saw there was completely unexpected. Gaara floated on what looked like a platform of _sand, _sending around swirls of the substance to attack; while Lee was rapidly striking at what appeared to be about seven Narutos (apparently the blond had made an appearance). Everyone _seemed_ to be intact (except for some of the Narutos, who disappeared in a puff of smoke when Lee or Gaara's sand made contact).

"Hey Sakura, want to join us? There's always room for one more. This is fun!" Naruto's voice said from right behind her hiding spot in the bushes. She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Ah, Naruto!" She exclaimed, turning. She wondered if it was the real thing or a copy. "I can't, I have to go to the library in Miyajima City and look up an animal for my task."

"Oh, that's a shame. Libraries are boring." Naruto said. "Good luck. Want me to tell Gaara that you came by?"

Want him to tell _Gaara_, not Lee? She gave Naruto a slight glare, which bounced off his innocent sincerity. Seriously, did the whole world know about her and Gaara? Well, that was obviously not the case, or she'd be scrubbing pots right now, but all of her friends seemed to know about him.

"No, that's ok, Naruto. You guys have fun sparring." Sakura said quickly.

"Oh we will! Go have fun with your dusty old books." Naruto grinned back. "Say hi to Hinata for me!"

"Uhhh," Sakura managed, "ok." Maybe she shouldn't be so worried that Naruto knew – he seemed pretty intent on Hinata. Well, if anything she might end up with company in the kitchens. Not that she'd ever rat out Hinata. Sakura realized that she hadn't seen Ino or Hinata since the day of the clams. She'd been so busy with her tasks that she hadn't made it to the refectory for meals with them, and she wasn't in any classes right now because of her pilgrimage.

Silently she slipped away, heading away from the training grounds before Gaara could spot her and insist on coming along. He'd no doubt see the library as an excellent opportunity to try to sneak more illicit kisses. Gods help her if Lee decided he had to come along too, then she would have to put up with the two of them and their damn silent standoff. She'd never get any work done that way. So Sakura was more than happy enough to slip off into the city with only Naruto having known she was there.

The main library in Miyajima City was a wonderful place. The libraries of the temples tended to cater to the specialties of those gods. Her temple's library was full of books on anatomy, healing, identification of diseases, and other things relevant to the Six Tails' service. At the Miyajima library, however, she could find books on almost any subject; non-fiction and fiction alike. The few times she'd been into the city when not on business for the temple, she'd often come to the library to pick up something entertaining.

If anywhere in the city would have information allowing her to identify the creature in the god's vision, it would be here. Sakura got help from a librarian to find the section she should start at, and then she searched for books on local wildlife. She knew it was local; the god had clearly shown her the jungle that lay to the northwest of the city, hugging the slopes of the sacred volcano.

She narrowed her search down from mammals, to primates, to nocturnal primates. In an illustrated bestiary she found a drawing that matched what she saw in the vision fairly well. So, the creature she was to hunt was called a tarsier? Sakura read up on the animal, learning more about its known habits (unfortunately there wasn't a lot, other than the fact that it was nocturnal), and territory. She knew it was small; she decided that the best way to terminate the creature without risking damage to its fragile skeleton would be to use poison of some sort.

She would have to prepare for an expedition into the jungle. The edge of the cleared lands was a two days' walk from the gates of the city, and she would need to bring food, water, weapons, and other supplies. Enough for at least a week and a half, at least, just in case it took that long. She would need to let Lady Tsunade know where she was going. She closed the book she was reading and returned it to the cart, and headed back to the temple complex just in time for the evening meal.

"Forehead!" Ino called, as Sakura lined up in the refectory for her meal. Ino and Hinata were already seated with food. Sakura gave them a wave, and then got her food and joined them.

"Hi Ino, hi Hinata," she greeted as she sat.

"Hi Sakura," Hinata replied with her usual shy smile.

"Where've you been, Forehead?" Ino asked.

"I was doing a task for the Eight Tails. He had me plough a field." The pink-haired teen made a face.

"You _ploughed a field_?" Ino snorted, incredulously. "What was that like?"

"Hard work." Sakura smirked. Hinata covered her mouth with her hands to hide her giggle.

"Ugh, I think I'll save the Eight Tails for last on _my_ pilgrimage. Plough a field! That's crazy!" Ino declared.

"It needed done. Yasuo's ox died and he wouldn't have got his crop in at all if I hadn't been there to help." Sakura shrugged. "But that's where I've been. It took two days. Today I was getting my task from the Seven Tails."

"What do you need to do for the Seven Tails?" Hinata asked, quietly.

"I need to find an animal in the jungle called a tarsier, kill it, and mount its skeleton in a lifelike way." Sakura said calmly.

"In the _jungle_?" Ino paled briefly. Then she scowled. "That sounds like a lot of work."

"It's probably going to take me a few days of slogging through the jungle to find one." Sakura said. "Shino said that the Seven Tails often gets people to mount skeletons of animals for their tasks."

"That's weird." Ino said. Sakura shrugged. She wasn't going to question the gods.

"You saw Shino? How is he?" Hinata asked. She, Shino and Kiba had been good friends as initiates, but since being dedicated all the novices tended to spend more time with their temple-mates rather than the friends they'd had as initiates. Unless they put effort into maintaining relationships, as Sakura and Lee had done, they tended to drift. While Kiba had remained fairly close to Hinata, Shino was a very shy and quiet person by nature as well, and hadn't spent much time with the other novices since being dedicated to the Seven Tails.

"He's an acolyte now." Sakura informed her dark-haired friend.

"Oh. _Everyone_ seems to be doing their pilgrimage now." Hinata said. "Maybe I _should_ do mine. Naruto is going to start his soon."

So Hinata had spoken with Naruto since the day of the clams, had she? Sakura made a note of her friend's slight blush when she spoke about her new blond friend. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Sakura, it's been nothing but 'Naruto this, Naruto that' since that day at the feast pits." Ino declared.

"I'm not _that_ bad," Hinata insisted, blushing.

"Naruto _is_ a nice guy. I saw him today, training with Lee and Gaara. He asked me to say hello to you for him, Hinata." Sakura smiled at the dark-haired girl. Hinata blushed bright red and looked down at the table, pushing her index fingers together.

Ino covered her laugh with her hand.

"I wouldn't laugh _too_ hard, Ino. All three of us know about you and Shikamaru." Sakura said, wanting to defend Hinata from the blonde's teasing.

"Yeah well at least I only have to deal with _one_. You've got that redheaded Gaara guy _and_ Lee following after you like dogs after treats." Ino shot back.

It was Sakura's turn to blush. "Oh gods, don't remind me," she groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "Every time I go somewhere and they see me, they both follow me around and start acting like a couple of old goats getting ready to bang heads or something. It's annoying!"

Ino snorted and rolled her eyes again at Sakura. Hinata smiled again.

"Seriously, if they don't cut it out, I'm going to end up scrubbing pots for years." Sakura sighed.

"Why don't you tell them to buzz off then?" Ino suggested.

"They're my friends." Sakura gave the blonde a hard look.

"Suuure, you just like having a harem." Ino smirked.

"Oh shut up." Sakura growled. "Two people isn't a harem."

"Do you like both of them?" Hinata asked.

The pink-haired teen sighed. "I like Lee as a friend."

"But not Gaara?" Ino immediately seized upon Sakura's omission.

"Gaara, he's… I just don't know how to explain it. You know, he's infuriating. He's an arrogant, self-satisfied, over-privileged asshole, but…" Sakura trailed off. "I like him and I really can't explain why," she grumbled that last out under her breath.

Ino gave a sarcastic bark of laughter. "Oh, so the great and studious Sakura isn't immune to the charms of a pretty boy after all? I wondered when you'd start noticing the opposite sex like a normal girl," the blonde teased.

"Shut up." Sakura growled, sinking lower into her chair. "I've been aware of good looking boys for a while now; I just don't let them interfere with my studies. Besides it's more than just his looks. There's something about him and I just can't explain it," she hated being so imprecise, but that's exactly what it was. Something indefinable, something she could barely comprehend. Who was Gaara, that he could step into her life and disrupt it so effortlessly, and she was helpless to do anything about it?

"I know how you feel." Hinata whispered, almost too quiet to hear. Both Sakura and Ino looked at her. The dark-haired Hyūga was blushing. "I like Naruto the same way. There isn't any logic to it. I just like him."

"You two are hopeless." Ino rolled her blue eyes again. "I'm stuck with a bunch of hopeless romantics."

"Oh shut up." Sakura grumbled. "I'm not a romantic."

"Whatever, Forehead. So how long do you think it's going to take to finish this task?" Ino switched the subjects. "It seems like everyone always has to go to the j-j-jungle."

"I don't know. I'm going to tell Lady Tsunade that I'll be out of the temple for up to a week and a half," Sakura said, feeling kind of puzzled by Ino's reaction. The blonde was not usually prone to stammering, and she was usually quite fearless.

"Are you going alone?" Hinata asked, looking slightly worried.

"Probably." Sakura replied. "I don't know who else would go with me. You guys are busy at your studies and I wouldn't know who else to ask."

"Why not _Gaaaaaaraaaaa_?" Ino drew out the redhead's name in a sing-song taunt.

"Definitely not." Sakura snapped. Yeah, right. The last thing she needed was Gaara attempting to steal kisses or _worse_ while she was trudging through the jungle trying to find some shy little mammal to kill for the god of death. "I've got to go tell Lady Tsunade about my task, and then I need to prepare for the trip," she began to clear up her tray.

"Good luck, Sakura!" Hinata smiled.

"Be careful out there, Forehead." Ino cautioned.

"Thanks, and I will." Sakura replied. Dropping her tray on the kitchen conveyor, she then headed straight for Tsunade's office. She hoped her mentor would be taking her supper in her office, as she so often did. As usual, she knocked on the stone door.

"Enter," came Tusnade's voice through the stone. Sakura entered, bowing before her teacher. Tsunade looked up from a plate of food stashed in between stacks of paperwork. "Sakura. How are your tasks coming along?"

"They are going well, Lady Tsunade," Sakura informed her teacher. "I am currently doing a task for the Seven Tails. It requires that I go to the jungle. I will probably be away from the temple for several days."

"To the jungle, hmm? Well, good luck then, and be careful. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"No more than a week and a half at the most I think."

"Hmm… When I did my tasks, if I remember correctly, I spent a _lot_ of time in that damn jungle." Tsunade commented.

Sakura looked at her mentor in surprise. Somehow it seemed almost impossible that Tsunade had ever had to do tasks for the gods, she was such a fixture in the Six Tails' temple that it seemed like there had never been a time when she was not the high priestess.

"Oh, give me a break, Sakura. I was a novice and a teen once too." Tsunade grumbled at her apprentice's wide-eyed expression.

"Of course, Lady Tsunade. It just seems… weird to think of you as anything _other_ than the high priestess." Sakura admitted.

Tsunade gave a brief laugh. "I might have been here a while but I'm not eternal, my dear. In fact, some day you might take my place here."

Sakura gaped.

"Well, I can't be expected to stay high priestess _forever_, can I? The temple needs new blood occasionally," Tsunade insisted. Then, seeing Sakura's uncomfortable look, she added, "Oh, don't worry, girl. You've got years before that's going to be an issue. Decades, perhaps."

Sakura nodded weakly. Tsunade's mouth twisted in a brief smile.

"Anyways, girl, you should probably go prepare. You'll need supplies for a journey. And don't forget your weapons. There are predators in the jungle still. Oh, and keep your eyes open for any healing plants, will you?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said. "Thank you!"

"Go _on_, girl." Tsunade waved her hands at Sakura. "I need to finish my supper."

Sakura obediently ducked out of her teacher's office. It was late now, too late to requisition supplies for her trip to the jungle. And she would need to brew an effective poison. Poisons were not her specialty, but she knew a few. Something that would kill quickly without needing a lot – she was pretty sure she could make something that fit the bill. But for tonight, what she needed was sleep. She knew full well that the next few days were going to be long and difficult. She headed to her cell and packed, and then finally went to bed, grateful for a chance to curl up in her little bed and slip off to sleep.

The next morning she rose early to prepare the vial of poison that she was going to bring with her. Because this toxin would work on most primates, including herself, she prepared the antidote as well. It never hurt to be safe.

On her way out of the city she picked up the rest of the supplies she needed from the market, and then she was off. Or, she would have been, if she hadn't nearly run straight into someone in her rush to get out of the city. She halted just in time to avoid collision, but didn't manage to escape the steadying hand that came out to catch her by the shoulder.

"Sakura!" a familiar voice said. She froze, looking up into curiosity-filled blue-green eyes fixed on her.

"Hi Gaara," she said, slightly defeated. Of all the people she didn't want to run into right now, he topped the list. And here she was, literally nearly running into him.

"Off to the jungle already?" he asked, mildly, looking over her kit. The hand on her shoulder shifted slightly, becoming more caressing.

"Yeah."

"Want company?" he offered.

Sakura sighed internally. She'd been afraid of this. Now there it was, he was going to invite himself along on her trip and then she'd never get any _work_ done. But wait… "I'm going to be gone several days. Are you prepared for that journey?"

"It wouldn't take that long to prepare."

"Yeah, but I'm leaving _now_. Besides, wouldn't you need clearance to be away that long? Could you get that on that short notice?"

"There's one way to find out… hold on…" His voice trailed off and he straightened. Sakura could feel him focus chakra, but she couldn't see the result of his efforts. He stared off into space for a few moments, and then a handful of minutes later he muttered a curse under his breath.

"What?" she asked.

"The head priest said no."

"How did—,"

"Sand clone," he explained.

"Oh." That's right, she'd seen him fighting with those with Naruto and Lee yesterday. Clones of any sort bespoke a great degree of skill. Clones that he could create and operate from the distance of the marketplace to the temple told of the immense power this young shinobi had. Sakura was slightly impressed despite herself.

"I suppose I could always have a clone do my duties for the next few days and just go with you anyway…" He mused.

"I'll be fine. I don't want to get you in trouble," she said quickly. Maybe a little _too_ quickly. He gave her a slightly amused look that told her he was totally on to her.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I'm sure you'll be asked to go into the jungle again. Most of us are; it seems to be a favourite place to send novices on tasks. I got away with only going in once, but that's because I did several of my tasks in Toriyama and I got the desert instead. It's just as lethal in its own way," he smiled, good humouredly. "Next time you go, I'll come with you."

"Oh," she said weakly, "wonderful."

His smirk grew.

"I've got to get going," she said.

"Good luck out there, Sakura. Be careful in the jungle."

"I will," she promised. His eyes glittered for a moment as he looked at her, and she wondered if he was going to try to kiss her again, out here in clear view of anyone who might pass by. Then he smirked and clapped her shoulder affectionately before lifting his hand to give her a little jaunty wave.


	11. Chapter 11

**Right now, Akatsuki are a generalized shadow looming in the distance, but they will come into play later in the story. So those of you who were wondering where they were will be able to find out... sooner or later. Same goes for another character who is currently conspicuously missing. **

**Enjoy the update! There'll be another one next Wednesday. Updates are on Wednesdays, barring complete lack of internet access on my part, or catastrophe.  
**

* * *

Chapter 11

Sakura had been into the jungle a few times before, as part of training missions with other initiates and then with other novices as she got older. She had never been there without others her age, and she had never been there without an experienced priest to lead her. Nevertheless, she felt confident that she could handle it. There were predators in the jungle, but with her control over chakra she could easily set wards to keep herself from being surprised. A jaguar was no match for a trained shinobi, as long as that shinobi came prepared. All it would take was a nick from a poisoned kunai.

It had taken her two days to get to the jungle. She could have made it there on the first day by pushing herself, but she suspected she should conserve her chakra. Instead, she'd camped out twice, delaying setting her camp by several hours and then sleeping in each time, in an effort to get herself on the same schedule as her prey. Tarsiers were nocturnal. Sakura would have to hunt by night.

It was still daylight when she entered the jungle. Fortunately the rainy season had not yet begun, so navigating was still not as problematic as it would be in a few months. She'd allowed herself time to get deeper into the jungle before darkness fell. She suspected her prey would be elusive, and that it would be found deeper in rather than closer to the farmlands.

Though it wasn't raining right now, the jungle was still humid and hot. Farther to the south, there were countries that experienced winter, and she supposed it was the same situation at the same latitude to the north of the equator. But Miyajima's version of winter was a slightly drier time of warmth. The jungle wasn't much different. The humidity caused it to get frequent rain even in the dry season, but in the wet season it got torrential downpours. The wet season would be here soon enough.

She stalked through the jungle, trying to get through without disrupting the vegetation as much as possible. She'd brought a machete (and a sharpening stone) for if she needed it, but she'd been taught to attempt to move without leaving a trace of her passage. Jungles were great practice. She'd also brought a compass and a chakra-activated map. Landmarks were hard to spot in the thick vegetation, and it was very easy to get turned around and utterly lost when everthing, even the sky, was obscured by leaves and trees.

All around her she could hear the sound of animals and birds calling. Many of the plants that surrounded her bore edible fruit, and she was familiar with enough of it to supplement her rations richly with wild-grown food. She also stopped to gather the occasional medicinal herb or substance that she knew would be appreciated back at her temple. She'd brought along extra bags to carry, but she had to keep her goal in mind. She would have to carry the corpse of the animal back when she got it.

As night fell, she wandered the forest, moving as silently as she could. The sounds of the jungle didn't taper off with the coming of the dark. Instead, they changed, with what were clearly different animals and birds now making their noises. Sakura dug out of her packs her 'cheat', a special set of chakra-activated goggles that allowed her to see living things in the dark. Sakura could rely on her senses to a point, but in order to be sure, she'd gotten these. They were expensive. Gaara had been right; someday there _would_ come a time when she would need the money she made at the arena. She told herself if there was a next time, she'd give an actual tithe.

With the goggles, she saw that the jungle was as teeming with activity by night as it was by day. She was actually a little surprised by the activity, although the sounds had certainly announced it. All throughout the jungle, creatures lived and died, fought and mated, hunted and fed. Insects glittered on almost every surface. She was glad that she'd brought lots of the salve that would keep off biting bugs.

The young shinobi snuck through the jungle, covering what ground she could and searching for any sign of the shy creature that she was to retrieve. At one point she thought she'd spotted one, but then she had a better look at its hands, and realized that they weren't the distinctive, elongated paws that she recalled from the illustration and from the god's vision. It was also eating a fruit, and Sakura knew that her quarry ate meat and insects.

She searched through the night, moving deeper and deeper into the jungle. Finally, the jungle grew misty and incredibly difficult to navigate, even with the goggles. They penetrated darkness, but not fog that seemed as solid as a wall. Her inner clock told her it was almost time for the sun to rise, and she found a tree she could climb with a branch high enough, and wide enough, for a sleep. Setting wards and alerting tags around herself, and setting up an alarm to wake her if she got to close to falling out of the tree, she curled up for a day's sleep.

Surprisingly enough, she slept through most of the day, only waking a few times when particularly loud animals had called nearby. She blinked herself to alertness and sat up in the tree, pulling out her rations for an early evening breakfast. She finished that up, and then got down out of the tree to make a camp latrine.

Sleeping in a tree wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Sakura had done it before, and every time she had woken stiff and sore. Today was no different. After she'd finished her business she did a series of quick stretches, reapplied the bug balm, and gotten herself limbered up for another night of hunting.

This night was to be her lucky one. Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, after midnight, but before dawn, she'd spotted her tarsier. Mindful of her near misidentification of the night before, she stalked the creature until she saw it hunting its own prey. She noted the long, delicate paws. She'd found what she wanted. Silently, she prepared her blow dart, dipping the tiny dart in the poison before capping the vial once more. She loaded the dart into the blow tube and inhaled before bringing the tube to her lips.

A quick *tff* and the dart launched. She didn't see it hit the tarsier; her goggles weren't _that_ good and the dart wasn't living. But she saw the tarsier whirl, obviously looking around for something. She waited, motionless, watching. A few seconds later, its grip on the branch loosened, and Sakura leapt forward in time to catch its corpse as it fell. She'd hit, and the poison had done its job.

Remembering that animals that weren't cleaned promptly after killing would rot, she deftly eviscerated the creature, although she held of skinning it. That could wait until she got back to the city. It would be harder to do when it wasn't fresh, but it would still be manageable. She wrapped the poor dead animal up in the coverings she'd brought for that purpose, and put it into her pack.

She judged that she had enough time for a quick nap before the sun rose, and then she would head back to the city as fast as she could. The irony is that the journey back would take a lot less time than the journey there, because she would be free to travel at top speed. She'd finished the first part of her task in good time. Now, she would need to finish the next part, and prepare the bones.

Another several hours' sleep in a tree and she was up again and on her way, flying through the branches confidently, alert for any sign of danger. By mid-morning she'd reached the edge of the jungle. By nightfall, she'd made it back to Miyajima City. She hoped that Shino would be ready to help her, even at this time of the night.

Before she went to see him, however, she took some time to carefully skin the tarsier. She thought that the cured hide might make a fine offering to the Seven Tails, in addition to the completion of her task. Why waste that? She prepared the skin with salt so that the fur would not fall out, and set it aside for curing.

It was a very exhausted Sakura who stumbled through the Seven Tails' temple gate in the early evening. A passing priestess spotted her and asked if she could help. The tired novice got out "I was wondering if Aburame Shino—," before the priestess smiled and said she'd go fetch Shino.

Sakura leaned against the wall, feeling about ready to drop to sleep right then and there. But she couldn't yet. She still had work to do.

"Sakura, you have returned from the jungle already?" Shino's voice inquired. Sakura looked up to see the young acolyte approaching her. She nodded.

"I have the tarsier. Can you help me prepare the bones?" She asked. Shino nodded.

"I would be happy to help. Give it to me and I'll let you know when my insects have done their job."

Sakura removed the package that contained the creature and gave it to Shino. "Be careful. It's fragile."

"My insects are very gentle. I will be careful." Shino promised. "It will take a few days. I will send a message to your temple when it is done."

"Thanks, Shino!" She smiled.

"You're welcome."

That part done, Sakura bade him farewell and had just enough energy for a quick shower before finally seeking her bed.

In the morning, after a good night's sleep, she rose, feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world and… _really_ hungry. She headed to the refectory for breakfast, realizing that she had missed supper the night before in her haste to return to meet with Shino and hand over her prize.

"Hey, Forehead, how was the jungle?" Ino asked as she brought her tray of breakfast to their usual table.

"Actually it wasn't that bad. It only took me two nights in the jungle to find the creature. I brought it back last night after travelling all day." Sakura told her friends.

"All day? You must be tired." Hinata commented.

"I had a good night's sleep," Sakura said.

"So what do you do now? Are you done with the task?" Ino asked.

"No, now I have to remove all the flesh from the bones." Sakura replied.

"How will you do that?" Hinata gave her a curious look.

"I'm not sure I want to talk about it over breakfast. It's kind of gross." The pink-haired teen averted her gaze. "Shino's helping me, let's leave it at that."

Ino made a face. "That's all I really need to know."

"So how long will it be before you can do what you need to?" Hinata asked.

"Uh," Sakura froze. She realized suddenly that she hadn't asked Shino how long it would take. He said he'd contact her when it was ready. If the books were to be believed, it could take anywhere from a few days to a week or more. It was still faster than maceration, but… "I really don't know. Shino will send a message when it's ready for the next stage."

"So what are you going to do while you're waiting? Hey, don't novices on pilgrimage basically have an open pass to the City?" Ino mused, getting visibly excited. "You could go shopping!"

"Uh, yeah, no. I spent all my money on supplies for the jungle. I don't think I'll be shopping." Sakura said. To tell the truth she wasn't as interested in the city as Ino was. Ino took every opportunity to go into Miyajima that came her way. Sakura had never understood the fascination. But then, Sakura had reason to believe that her friend was using the city as a place to meet Shikamaru without having as high a risk of discovery. The pink-haired girl wondered briefly if Ino had some hideaway there.

"It's a pity the pass is in your name only." Ino mourned.

"Well, start your pilgrimage, and you'll have a pass of your own." Sakura pointed out. Hinata giggled at this.

"Ino, I'm going to be starting mine next week. With Naruto." The Hyūga smiled at them. "You could join us."

"Uh…" Ino's big blue eyes widened and she looked almost frightened. "You're all leaving me! I'm going to be the only one left in the novitiate. This sucks!"

"You _could_ just do your pilgrimage. Honestly, it hasn't been _that_ bad for me yet." Sakura commented.

"Damn it!" Ino's gaze dropped to the table in defeat. She flushed. "I'll think about it, ok?"

"It's not us you need to please, it's the gods." Sakura smirked at Ino's murderous glare. Then the pink-haired girl continued, "I think maybe I'll just keep training, or see if Tsunade has some work for me in the meantime."

"You're so dedicated." Hinata smiled.

"Yeah, _too_ dedicated. I don't know how the rest of us are supposed to manage with you always setting the bar so high." Ino grumbled. Hinata rolled her lavender Hyūga eyes at the blonde, which surprised Sakura. Ino's bitching, she expected, but since when had Hinata started reacting with anything other than polite, shy sympathy to the whine-fest? Was their sweet little Hinata growing up at last? Sakura wondered if it was the influence of Naruto.

"No one's comparing us. You know we're all assessed on our own merit." Sakura pointed out.

"So they _say_. It still puts a lot of pressure on the rest of us when you're such a little shining golden girl." Ino complained.

"I'm _not_," Sakura insisted.

"You _are_. Tsunade loves you. You're the greatest thing since rice balls." Ino snapped.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Sakura felt a little bit angry. "Stop working hard?"

Ino stopped to consider that, looking a little chagrined. "Well I guess _that_ isn't fair either," she admitted.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, then. Can't you just be happy with your own progress? You're a _good_ healer Ino, that's not in question." Sakura said.

The blonde looked a little surprised at Sakura's words. "You think so?"

"_Yes_." Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Ino, your skill at healing is great. You don't need to worry about it, really you don't."

"Thanks, Sakura. It actually means a lot for me to hear that coming from you." Ino said, quietly. The blonde looked more subdued than usual. She turned her luminous blue eyes on Sakura with a genuine smile.

Sakura hadn't ever really considered how her excellence was affecting her friend. It was a little bit of a shock to realize that Ino was jealous of her healing abilities. It was even more surprising to see how much Sakura's praise affected Ino. She was glad she'd said what she'd said.

"And you, Hinata, do you feel the same way? Because you have a lot of skill at healing too." Sakura said, turning to the dark-haired girl, who had witnessed the exchange between Ino and herself quietly and apparently without reaction.

"Watching you has never really bothered me. I know my own skills and I'm happy with them. I'm happy that you do well in this. It just tells me that you picked the right temple, which makes me happy because I'm glad we can still spend so much time together. When everyone was sorting into temples I lost a lot of friends from my initiate days, and I'm too sh-sh-sh-shy to go get back into contact." Hinata blushed towards the end of her statement when her stutter returned. "I'm working on that, though. The shyness, that is," she followed up, with more conviction.

"I still don't understand why you insist on practicing with Lee, though. We get combat training at the Six Tails' temple and that's good enough." Ino said.

"Eh, well, it's partly because he's a friend. And he challenges me. A little _too_ much sometimes, but I figure what doesn't kill me can only make me stronger." Sakura admitted. "Though the green spandex is a little much."

Both Ino and Hinata laughed at that.

Sakura pushed her leftovers around on her plate. She shouldn't have taken so much egg. Waste was inexcusable when one lived on the proceeds of offerings and tithes. Her eyes had been bigger than her stomach.

"Can't finish it?" Ino asked, slyly.

Sakura blushed. "I misjudged my appetite after trudging through the jungle for two days."

"So she _isn't_ perfect! I'm relieved." The blonde gloated. Sakura sighed, but she let Ino have her small victory.

"I'm going to go find Lee and get some training in." The pink-haired girl said, rising from her seat. Ino and Hinata, also done their breakfast, rose and followed her to the tray return.

"Well, I'd better get back to the children's ward." Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"I've got the intensive care unit this month." Hinata mentioned.

"Good luck, you two. I'm off to get beat up by green monsters." Sakura smiled.

"Crazy woman." Ino laughed. "If you need bruise balm, look me up later."

"Thanks, Ino-pig!" Sakura laughed back.

It was a beautiful sunny day out, and Sakura felt at the top of the world. She knew that would last up until a little while after she met up with Lee, after which she would shortly feel like something scraped off the bottom of a particularly soiled shoe. Still, she was in great cheer as she stepped out of the gate to the Six Tails' temple and swung down the path towards the Ox's gate.

This time, she _did_ bounce off the person standing in her path, as oblivious as she'd been. She froze, feeling acutely embarrassed. "I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was—,"

"Sakura," came that familiar, melodious voice. She looked up into glacier blue-green eyes. "We keep meeting each other like this," he smirked at her.

"Hi Gaara," she said, hesitantly. Seriously, this was weird. She always seemed to either run into him (literally) or end up with him sneaking up on her. The only time she could distinctly recall having spotted him was that day practicing with Lee in the training field, when she'd felt the heat of his gaze upon her. How did he always manage to be right in her path, or find her? It was weird!

"You're back from the jungle, I see. Unharmed, it looks like." His eyes raked over her in a manner that was at once assessing any potential damage she might have sustained, and somewhat possessive.

"Well, of course I'm unharmed. What do you take me for?" She gave him a flat look.

"The jungle can be dangerous. I wouldn't like it if anything happened to you, you know. You're important to me," he said, face serious.

She felt a little bit surprised. Yeah, he seemed to try to get away with putting the moves on her any chance he could reasonably get away with it, but to hear him out and out say that she was important to him… it was unexpected, to say the least. What was as unexpected was the fact that she returned that sentiment as far as his own health and safety were concerned.

Really, how did either of them get away with that kind of seriousness? She'd known him all of a month and a bit, been kissed by him twice (somewhat against her will, as enjoyable though those kisses had been), and really not spent all that much time around him. Surely it was illogical to form this kind of attachment to someone that quickly? Sakura was familiar with infatuation – she'd felt it before (not that she would ever admit it to anyone else; but Hinata's cousin in the Four Tails' dedicated _was_ very attractive). This didn't feel like that. It felt… deeper somehow.

"Don't worry. I was safe the whole time. I've been well trained," she insisted.

"I know," he said, softly, gazing at her through slightly lowered lids. His eyes glittered as they roved over her. "Like I said, I'd be upset if something happened to you. I would have preferred to go into the jungle with you."

She smirked, remembering how he'd been shot down by the head priest for the One Tail's Miyajima temple last time. "Talk to the priest about it yet?" She taunted him, feeling confident that if he had, he'd been denied permission.

"Yes, and I have clearance to go with you if you go into the jungle again," he said, surprising her. He looked smug at her obvious annoyance. "So if you're sent into the jungle again, alert me." It wasn't a request. Sakura felt herself flushing slightly. Really, who did he think he was? Just because he was a hereditary member of the clergy, and powerful, and attractive, he thought he could order her around?

"What if I _want_ to go by myself?" she retorted, letting her annoyance come through.

"Er," he looked a little surprised at the resistance she was putting up to his intention to come with her. He seemed to consider her for a moment. "I tell you what. If you can take me in a taijutsu match on the training ground, I'll agree to that," he smirked.

She snorted. "I've already seen you fight. Your taijutsu is better. That's hardly fair."

"Name your handicap."

"I get to use chakra and ninjutsu," she smirked. "You don't."

"You're on," he smirked right back at her. Wait a sec, had she just _agreed_ to his proposition? Yeah, it was a loss condition, but still… She suddenly felt outmanoeuvred. As they walked to the practice grounds, she glanced over and noted his smug look. Mind you, he often looked smug, but still… Sakura hated losing. Gaara would probably give Shikamaru a fair challenge at shogi.

Sand squished under their sandals as they left the stone paths for the training ground. It made her wonder a bit about Gaara; after all, he had a sand affinity. That was pretty rare, as far as she knew. She'd never heard of anyone else with a sand affinity, and his seemed a strong one. Though, maybe it shouldn't surprise her either. The Tanuki was always associated with sand and the desert, and she was fairly certain he was related to the high priest of the One Tails. He might even be the high priest's son. She knew from the studies of the pantheon all the novices took that the current High Priest of the One Tails had several children, and was himself blessed by the favour of the god. She was glad that she wasn't going up against his sand abilities. Sakura was strong, but she would never be able to hold against that kind of power.

They separated, walking a short distance away before turning to face each other across the sands. While Sakura shifted her feet into a better stance, she watched as Gaara planted his shoulder-width apart and crossed his arms in front of him. His smirk was infuriating.

"Begin whenever you want," he said, loud enough for her to hear the amusement in his tone. Feeling a little miffed at being treated so dismissively, she glowered at him. This only seemed to amuse him more; as his smirk widened.

She rotated her foot in the sand, adjusting her position. And then the sand under her feet sprayed as she used chakra-imbued strength to propel herself forward at high speed towards him.


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is a favourite of mine. I hope you like it too. Sorry to say, but there's going to be an absence of Gaara for a few chapters. I know people want more make-out, but the story goes the way it needs to. In any real relationship, there is time apart, too. And... consequences... :)**

**I'm not so great at replying to specific reviewers in an author's note. I tend to have the memory of a goldfish and forget to do it when I'm posting at 6 am on Wednesday morning before rushing off to work. I **_**do**_** appreciate the reviews you leave, especially when you have specific comments on things you like about the story or think could be improved. If you want more communication with me, feel free to drop me a PM. I welcome dialogue and will usually converse enthusiastically. There's also my poor little unused forum. :)**

**By my best estimates (since the site statistics don't give exact figures on unique visitors), there are between 700 and 1000 regular readers of this story. That's amazing. I never had any clue that I could write something that people were that eager to read! I know this is a favourite pairing, but it still bodes well for if I ever decide to finish that original fiction of mine. There might actually be people out there who enjoy my writing style! Thanks guys, I'm honored by many favourites, story alerts, reviews, and hits that you're giving me. It's quite motivating, too. I hit a bit of a slump after November ended and didn't touch the story for nearly two months, but in February alone I've written nearly 10k words. I'm back in the game and my poor little keyboard is getting the pounding of its young life (I had to replace the last one at the end of November because it wore out. Third one that year, too...). Here's hoping this keyboard lasts longer than 100,000 words... better than the last one!**

**Thanks to my reviewers, Musichowler and danyel, and thanks to Gaaras1Girl and Shu of the Wind for pointing several mistakes out to me. Those errors have been fixed. Please, if you see a typographical error, feel free to let me know and I'll fix it. Years of being a contractor has taught me to strive to reduce errors and to work towards perfection in everything I do, and I've kept that philosophy even in my fun-time activities, such as writing fanfiction. Just because it's fanfiction doesn't mean I can let my standard of quality go!**

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Chapter 12

He was apparently well aware of her monstrous strength, demonstrated by his choice to shift in the sand and move to deflect her chakra-laden fist rather than merely block her strike. Blocking her would have possibly led to her breaking the bones in the arm that he used. Instead, her fist glanced off him, probably doing him no more harm than a bruise. He was fast enough to pull it off, even with her enhanced speed, which she'd anticipated.

It was a frontal attack and doomed to fail, but that wasn't the point. The point was to test his defences, and to apply the genjutsu she had prepared. Behind her back, her other hand moved, making one-handed seals. This kind of thing wasn't allowed in the arena. When fighting before the gods, chakra enhancement of one's own traits was allowed, but actual jutsus were not. But it was perfectly fine when sparring against another ninja in the training field.

It was an acolyte of the Two Tails who had discovered her knack for genjutsu and encouraged her to learn more, back when she'd been an initiate. Kakashi was now a priest of the Two Tails, and she still met with him now and then for additional training. Genjutsu was a specialty of the Cat's priesthood. Sakura had been considered for the Cat's dedicated, but she didn't have the trickster instincts required by that service; she took things way to seriously. Kakashi, on the other hand, certainly _did_ have the correct instincts.

This was his trick, which he'd gotten her to master one-handed. Distract the opponent with what she was doing with one hand, so she could use the other to pull off the prank. She rolled out of the way of Gaara's repartee strike, coming to her feet and whirling, arms placed in a guard position. But he wasn't following through. Instead, he was blocking an invisible opponent attacking from another direction, his naked brow quirked in an expression of mild perturbation.

Given his shrewdness, it probably wouldn't take him long to figure the genjutsu out. So she should really take advantage of the time she had. Sakura knew from sparring with him and Lee that one day that he was the better tactician and the better combatant in general. Her only chance at victory would be to create a situation where his superiority was negated, which the genjutsu supplied. Sakura had to win this quickly, or she would likely lose.

Again, she approached, taking the opposite direction from the illusion he was still defending against. Once he felt the real thing, he'd probably realize he was trapped in a genjutsu and take action against her. She had to act while he was still off balance.

As she moved, she observed his movements, calculating the best time to strike. He was still doing everything correctly to ward off his phantasmal attacker, which made this easier. He moved exactly the way she anticipated, if a little more quickly. She stepped neatly beside him, positioning her leading foot in front of his legs, and grabbing his elbow as his arm swung back in preparation for what she suspected was a strike intended for the illusion.

At the feel of her hands on him he apparently instantly realized that he was fighting a genjutsu and that the real thing had got him. Gaara's strength and reaction speed were impressive, but Sakura had set this up too well. In a matter of seconds she had used her feet to tangle up his; and her hold to throw him off balance. He struggled and almost managed to get himself free, but she prevailed and had him face-down in the sand, sitting on his hips, holding his right arm behind his back in a twist that would have him dislocating it if he moved too much, and hurt like a son-of-a-bitch if he moved _at all_.

He grunted, attempting to shift underneath her. She adjusted his arm and he froze, a very quiet 'nng' telling her that he'd reacted to the pain.

"Give up?" She chirped cheerfully, with a grin he couldn't see from his current position eating sand. He could probably hear the grin.

He sighed. "You win." His tone was a little miffed.

She grinned and let go of his arm. He breathed another sigh, this time probably of relief, as he regained control of his arm.

"That was tricky, using a genjutsu. I never saw the seals," he commented.

"Behind my back," she replied.

"One-handed?" He sounded slightly impressed.

"Yep."

"Not bad. How long did it take you to learn that?"

"A year to learn it, another year to perfect doing it with only one hand with little preparation. I have a friend over in the Two Tail's dedicated," she explained.

"Must be a talented friend."

"Oh he is."

She still hadn't moved; she was still sitting on his back. She abruptly realized that fact when he commented, "Not that I mind you on top of me, but I'd prefer it if I was on my back and we were both wearing less clothes," she could hear the smirk in his voice. She jerked, feeling acutely embarrassed, and scrambled off him rapidly, getting to her feet and backing away from him. Gaara rolled onto his side and faced her, propping his head up with his elbow, looking at her with rather too much amusement.

"What, you don't agree with me?" he teased her.

Sakura blushed. She knew full well what he was implying. "Pervert," she muttered. His grin widened, not even slightly embarrassed. "I'm not even 18 yet."

"You're not _that_ far away," he returned, smoothly. "In the City, there are a lot of girls younger than you with boyfriends who—,"

"They're not training to be in the priesthood!" she said a little too quickly, interrupting him. Her face would never return to its natural tone at this rate.

"It's just a number, an arbitrary rule. Rules like that are made to be broken."

"Not by me."

"Oh, I see," he shifted his eyes, looking away from her. "You're just not interested in me."

"That's not—I mean, I—oh you! You're impossible!" She sputtered, punctuating her words by thumping one foot in the sand in anger. He got to his feet smoothly, and suddenly he was right in front of her, way too close. She took an inadvertent step back and made an undignified 'eep'.

His hand, warm and still gritty with sand, came up to her chin, subtly lifting her gaze to meet his. She couldn't look away. Her jade green eyes connected with his icy blue-green ones; so surprisingly hot on her despite their hue. Something inside her lurched, but not in an unpleasant way. No, indeed, that surge was entirely too pleasant. It set her heart to pounding and made her breathing uneven.

"So you _are_ interested?" He questioned, tone demanding an honest response.

She flushed again, but she couldn't look away. Gods help her, yes, she _was_ interested in him, as irrational as that was. Her body wanted to feel his against her. Her lips tingled with anticipation of the kisses she knew he would give bestow upon them. She wanted to taste, touch… She wanted _him_, badly. But the rational, logical, oh-so-correct part of her freaked out. She was underage; if they got caught she would be punished, she wasn't supposed to be doing this, and she wasn't supposed to feel like this over a boy she hardly knew. Desire like what she felt for him wasn't supposed to just appear and throw her neat little life into disarray. It just wasn't _logical_. And worse, she could get in trouble.

"I'm not 18 yet," she repeated, weakly.

"You're really intent on that, aren't you?" he asked, with a soft tone, but she still heard beneath it the hints of his frustration and his desire for her.

She nodded, unable to speak.

He smiled, and it reminded her of a cat with a mouse to play with. He leaned in while she remained frozen, his lips brushing against her ear. A shiver went through her and she swallowed hard.

"Very well, then," he said, almost a whisper. She almost relaxed. Was he agreeing to play by the rules? And then his teeth found her lobe and nibbled gently, and she froze up again at the electric thrill that lanced through her at this unexpected move. "But don't think I'm going to make this easy for you."

Wait… _What_? "What do you mean?" she demanded quickly. Knowing that he was up to no good and dreading just how right she was, she trembled and couldn't help it. He released her earlobe, but she suspected he was just going to do worse. When she felt his lips wander below her ear and down her neck, she _knew_ she was right. This was a _lot_ worse. The trembling worsened and she started to wonder if she was going to faint just like Hinata used to when she was startled. His lips felt too good, and she didn't know what to do.

His warm arms came around her; steadying her and also keeping her from bolting. She jerked in his embrace when she felt the touch of his tongue on her skin, running along the tendons of her neck. His hold on her tightened. Sakura could feel her heart pounding as his mouth closed on her pulse. She felt weak. She wanted him to keep going. She wanted more.

When he sucked gently on her neck she made a small, inadvertent sound of desire. His hands wandered her back, pressing into the cloth of her shirt. Fingers from one hand slipped underneath the waistband of her pants, pressing her hips into his. She could feel the heat of his body, and more frightening, she could feel the hard press of his arousal between them. But _her_ hands had been wandering his chest, and she realized they'd gone a bit further than she wanted them to when she discovered that she'd found her way beneath the layers of his flak jacket and the maroon jacket _and_ his shirt, and her fingertips brushed against skin barely covered with mesh. She felt something underneath the mesh and ran her fingers over it idly, only realizing when he hummed against her neck that she'd found his _nipple_ and he apparently liked her touching it.

Gaara rewarded her by biting her neck, and she gave a small, wordless cry of pleasure. He made that hum of approval again, which felt so very good against her neck. She felt like she was on fire. Everywhere he touched burned twice as hot, including the places where they touched through many layers of clothes. Even where he didn't touch felt sensitized; so much so, that she felt even the slight breeze ruffling her hair and brushing against her clothes.

Sakura felt good. Everywhere Gaara touched felt _very_ good. And somewhere in the core of her something had awoken, a burning flame of desire that she had never expected. She found herself wanting to touch more of him, to kiss him, to remove all those cumbersome clothes from him… She realized with a jolt that they were _still_ in the training ground, standing very visibly in the middle of a sandy practice field, in broad daylight and in plain view of anyone who might wander by and report her…

She drew in a fortifying breath and whispered, "Stop."

Gaara stopped. She felt him exhale raggedly on her neck where he had been kissing, and the feel of his breath on her already sensitized skin was beyond tantalizing. She realized she could feel his heart pounding too, underneath her hands. She withdrew them carefully, moving to redo the buckles and straps of his jacket that had somehow come undone, and his hands closed on her wrists.

"You didn't like that?" he asked quietly, eyes meeting hers.

"I liked it," she replied, blushing furiously and averting her gaze. She couldn't lie, not right now. She was still far too shaken to be able to lie after that.

"Then why did you want to stop?" There was a hint of teasing in his voice. Her eyes flicked back to his face and she was unsurprised to see a hint of a smirk there.

"Because, Gaara, we _can't_," she insisted.

"I _did_ say I wouldn't make it easy," he was really smirking then, and Sakura realized what he'd meant. He was going to test her patience and resolve sorely. And she was going to let him. Because she knew that she did indeed want what he wanted. Something inside her told her that even if she actively tried to avoid him, she'd still end up running into him. Possibly even quite literally. This whole situation had a vague aura of inevitability. She, him; the two of them, together. She felt it like she felt the inexorability of a god's touch.

If only she wasn't 16. If only she was 18 and a novice, and free to pursue this relationship without repercussions. Then, she could… what? Then what, Sakura? When she stopped to question herself, she realized fully where this was headed. Where this _could_ have headed _today_, if she hadn't been interested in exercising restraint. _Gaara_ certainly didn't seem interested in restraint. In fact, he seemed to derive some sort of unholy kick out of trying to erode _hers_. That was all very fine for him; he was 18.

This was more than just flirtation and the usual playing around between people her age. Sakura knew with an unerring certainty that the only one she wanted was Gaara. And while a lot could change in a year and two months, she suspected that she would feel the same way on her 18th birthday as she did now. And probably, even on her 80th.

That feeling was part of the reason the rational segment of her mind had such a problem with this whole thing. She'd always found the notion of soul mates to be ridiculous – fated to love someone forever and ever without any of _your_ say-so? Yeah right. Temple lore held that the saints formed bonds like that, but Sakura scoffed at ever being considered a saint. She was definitely nowhere near perfect, despite her excellence in the healing arts. And Gaara, well, he might be a prodigy, but somehow she couldn't picture a saint being as… cavalier and disrespectful as he was. She remembered again watching him slip her blood lily into his buckle, and scarf down that stuffed bun from the offering pile. No, Gaara was definitely no saint.

Fingertips brushed against her face. "You're staring off into space, Sakura." Gaara said; yanking her from her thoughts and reorienting her suddenly back in the real world.

"Uhhhh sorry!" she said, blushing again. He smirked back.

"What were you off thinking about?"

"That's none of your business!" She grinned at him, trying to deflect him away to another conversation topic. Like she was going to _admit_ to him that she'd basically figured out that she was going to be his… and naturally, _he_ was going to be _hers_. He'd only take that as permission to keep molesting her in public.

"Oh really? Maybe I should kiss it out of you," he threatened, licking his lips slowly.

"That's ok, I really need to get going," she said, a little too quickly.

"The morning is still young. We could train," he suggested.

Yeah right. Train for a kissing competition, maybe. "I think I'm going to go study healing techniques; just because I'm doing my pilgrimage doesn't mean I can let that slip," she demurred.

His mouth quirked up at one corner. "As you will, then, Sakura. My temple no doubt has chores for me. Take care of yourself the next time you go into the jungle, since I will not be there to protect you."

"I'll be _fine_, Gaara!" She insisted. "I don't need to be protected."

"The jungle can be dangerous," he said, sounding serious, although the twinkle in his eyes told her he was still teasing her.

"So can walking down the stairs," she said with a snort. He laughed.

"Go study, then. Good spar, Sakura. You won that time. Next time you won't be so lucky," he smirked, leaning back from her and finally allowing her her personal space back. She almost breathed a sigh of relief at that.

"Take care, Gaara. I'll run into you later," she said, with humour. He gave a single syllable chuckle at that.

She turned and made her way off the sand, trying to shrug off the weakness in her legs as the sand or something else, not the after effects of his mouth on her like that… oh, Sakura, don't think about it, it _doesn't_ help! But she managed to make it back to the Six Tails' walls without incident. From the gates, she went to the library. A book right now would really help, provided _he_ didn't decide to come pester her in the small herb garden where she liked to read. Again. But she suspected that she'd gotten her Gaara dose for the day and that he'd accede to her wishes and let her be. For the rest of the day at least. Tomorrow was another story.

She took a different book this time; this one on advanced ways to speed natural healing using herbs and compresses. It wasn't really high priority, considering that even if she depleted her chakra one day, she'd have enough to heal someone else the next day. But who knows, the information might come in handy some day. For instance, if the war Gaara was talking about _did_ materialize in her lifetime, then there would likely be too many injured and not enough healers to ensure that everyone's wounds were handled by chakra. In which case, this kind of knowledge would help ensure that those who were not critically wounded enough for chakra healing still received adequate care.

She hoped Gaara was wrong about that war, but she suspected he was right. The neighbouring nation was also a theocracy, and their gods were not friendly to the folk of her country. Akatsuki had long coveted the lands of the Nine Temples; partly because of the harbour and trade routes protected by Miyajima City, and the mineral wealth found in the desert and the mountains that surrounded it.

Akatsuki had gone to war with Nine Temples before, many times in the past. And all those times in the past, the Nine Temples had managed to repel the invaders from the south. That had been due in a large part to the construction of a series of forts along the southern border. Those forts were still in poor repair from the end of the last war, about 14 years ago. The war had nearly bankrupted the temples then, to the point where the reconstruction of the forts to protect against an enemy that had fled seemed a low priority. In the years since, those forts had seen some work. Gaara had hinted that it was not enough, and that patrols needed to be beefed up.

As a novice, Sakura wasn't privy to the discussions of the Council of the High Priests and Priestesses. As an acolyte, even Gaara wouldn't be. But somehow, he knew, or suggested that he knew, that the Council was deliberating over patrols and fort repairs. She hoped then that they would choose to increase their efforts at protection. Things seemed peaceful now, but they might change, and rapidly.

She closed her book as she realized that she'd re-read the last paragraph six times without really reading what the words said. She wasn't getting anywhere studying, after all. Maybe she should get some lunch.

She returned the book to the library and headed for the refectory. As she was about to enter the refectory, she was flagged down by Shizune. "Sakura," the black-haired young woman called, halting the teen in her progress. Shizune's eyes flicked briefly to Sakura's neck, and the pink-haired girl was mildly puzzled by that for a moment.

"Hello Shizune. How can I help you?" Sakura asked with a smile. She liked Shizune, the priestess who had become Tsunade's functionary. The woman had a warm personality and was always willing to help a novice when asked.

"Lady Tsunade wants to see you, um, right now." Shizune said. She blushed lightly, looking slightly embarrassed. Sakura wondered why.

"Ok, I'll go see her. Thanks, Shizune." Sakura replied.

"Oh please don't thank me this time, Sakura." Shizune said, making the pink-haired teen wonder what was up. Sakura gave her a wave and dashed down the halls towards her mentor's office.

She reached the stone door but before she could knock, Tsunade called out her command for Sakura to enter. The youth obediently opened the door and stepped in. Her teacher was sitting with her hands folded in front of her mouth, elbows on the table, looking somewhat irked. _Uh oh,_ thought Sakura. _This doesn't look good_. The teen rapidly began reviewing what she might have done wrong. That was funny, nothing came to mind…

"Sakura, you have been my best student in the last thirty years by far. You have always been conscientious to a fault. I admit when the report came to me, I was a little sceptical at first. But I can plainly see that the report was true." Tsunade glowered at her. Sakura felt a stab of fear. She still wasn't sure what she was on the hook for.

"You know the rules, girl," Tsunade said. "I'm very disappointed in you right now. I thought _you_ of all my students would be able to wait until you were 18."

Sakura realized suddenly why she was standing in Tsunade's office getting chewed out. Someone had spotted her with Gaara, and reported it. It didn't matter who; she was still facing the consequences. She went white, then she went red with shame. She grimaced; only force of will preventing herself from making puppy-dog-eyes too badly. She would _not_ shame herself further in front of Tsunade. She resisted the urge to hang her head.

"And to run around with a _hickey_," Tsunade continued. Wait, _what?_ Sakura's hand flew to her neck, touching the place where Gaara had kissed her. Her sensitive medic's fingers did indeed detect the slight change in texture and warmth that suggested a contusion. Sakura's eyes widened in outrage. _That insufferable, self-satisfied, redheaded—_

"I thought better of you, Sakura," her teacher concluded, with a disapproving frown. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"It wasn't me!" Sakura yelped.

"Oh, so you mean that hickey is on someone else's neck?" Tsunade asked, acidly.

"No, that's not—oh, I didn't want him to kiss me. I told him to stop!" The teen fumbled.

"Sakura," Tsunade suddenly looked even more serious and angry, but this time the girl could tell it wasn't directed at her. "Is he forcing you?"

"No, nothing like that." Sakura said, quickly. "He's not forcing me, but I don't want him to kiss me yet. He's 18. I'm not. I've got a month and a half and another year to go, and I told him that. But he won't…" she cut off with a helpless gesture. "Seriously I think he finds this _funny_," she mumbled, grumpily. When she next saw Gaara, she was going to kick his ass. Or at the very least, give it a good try. And she would _not_ let it turn into a make-out session.

Tsunade sighed, shifting in her seat and looking over her student appraisingly. Sakura sensed that some of the High Priestess's ire had dissipated, or at least re-directed to a target other than herself. However, the youth was not so stupid as to assume she could get out of this without repercussions. She'd been spotted with Gaara and reported. She would take her punishment responsibly (although she would reserve the right to complain about it to Ino and Hinata). Even if it meant kitchen patrol.

"I see I'm going to have to write a letter of complaint to the High Priest of the One Tail in Toriyama. His son is clearly ill-disciplined." Tsunade grumbled. Sakura felt a slight bit of internal satisfaction at the confirmation of her guess. She _was_ right about who Gaara was.

"He'll probably get off scot-free, the little git. He always does." Tsunade continued sourly. Sakura would have snickered at her mentor calling a hereditary dedicated a 'git', but she was in hot enough water as it was. So she just stood there silently, waiting for Tsunade to hand down _her_ punishment.

"So what am I going to do with _you_, girl, hmm?" Tsunade asked. Sakura blushed and shifted her feet, this time giving into the urge to look at said feet. "Oh don't look so hang-dog. Hearing that you're not exactly the initiator in this and at least _attempting_ to maintain propriety helps your situation a lot, Sakura. And you know you can't lie to me and you didn't even try, and that also helps. But the fact remains that you got caught and you're still underage, so I'm going to have to give you _some_ kind of punishment."

Sakura dared to lift her eyes in a slightly timid inquisitive glance. Tsunade certainly didn't _look _too pissed off. The old healer wasn't mad at her anymore, that was clear. But yeah, Sakura agreed, punishment was only fair. The teen's sense of right and wrong wouldn't let her get away without it. At least not after having been _caught_.

"I _could_ assign you healing duties at the One Tail's arena, but _somehow_ I suspect that would be asking for trouble." Tsunade said, which caused Sakura to blush. Yeah, being over at the Tanuki's temple for any length of time would be too much of a temptation for Gaara by far. And he had an obnoxious habit of not _listening_ to her. He would probably also decide that the best way to keep her nearby would be to make sure she was kept under punishment duty for a _long time_, and would likely go to an _effort_ to kiss her in public where she'd get caught and reported.

"So punitive healing duty is out. I suspect you wouldn't consider that a punishment anyway, even if your redheaded friend wasn't in the picture." Tsunade continued. "I could assign you kitchen duty, I suppose…"

Sakura turned white and attempted not to react while mentally beating up the red-headed boy. Oh, she was going to _kill him_!

"But I think that's perhaps a little harsher than the circumstances require…" Her mentor smiled. Sakura couldn't stifle the sigh of relief that escaped her.

"I know. Sakura, you will spend 30 days assisting the Intensive Care ward with cleanup, starting after lunch today. You will be in charge of sterilizing all tools, and ensuring that non-sterilizable tools are disposed of properly. Any spills or messes you will clean up. You will also restock the consumable supplies. Got it?" Tsunade's voice was hard, though her eyes were not.

Sakura nodded. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but there would be no doubt that this was punishment duty. "But what about my pilgrimage?" She asked.

"That takes priority over cleanup duty. You'll notice I said _30 days_, not one month. When your pilgrimage doesn't have you actively involved in a task, you will spend your days at Intensive Care, until you have done all 30. As I recall, most pilgrimages have _plenty_ of time spent waiting." Tsunade said.

Sakura felt a little crestfallen at that.

"This will have the added bonus of keeping you out of young Gaara's line of sight, unless he should be so foolish as to end up in Intensive Care himself. Look at that as a bonus, girl." Sakura nodded. It _would_ indeed keep Gaara out of her hair, for a while. She suddenly felt lucky that Tsunade hadn't decided to punish her for a _year_.

"I'd rather not restrict you from seeing him if I don't have to. However, if he doesn't start behaving himself, I might have to request that his temple put an injunction on him. At least until you're 18 and an acolyte, and legally free to pursue a romance. Or be pursued, in this case." Tsunade's tone was wry. "Very well, Sakura. I believe we have covered what we need to cover. You are dismissed. And go heal that hickey. It's unbecoming for a medic-nin to run around with a bite mark on her neck."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said meekly, her face hot. She bowed to her mentor and made her exit, heading directly for the novices' showers. She needed a mirror, and she needed to take care of that hickey before someone _else_ saw it, like _Ino_. The blonde would _never_ let her live it down.


	13. Chapter 13

**Yeah, 'consequences' doesn't always mean 'teen pregnancy' :) it can sometimes mean 'grounded'. It's not weird at all to be happy they got caught. It would have been unrealistic for them not to be. Unfortunately, it would be unrealistic for Gaara to get anything like an equal punishment; he's above the age of majority, has status and privilege, and legal, so it's Sakura who bears the brunt of the punishment. However, he doesn't get off scott-free (hee hee hee). **

**I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. The next several chapters are going to focus on Sakura as she does her punishment duty, gets some tasks done, and receives intensely emotional revelations from her friends! Do not despair, the absence of Gaara for a few chapters is not without its benefits in terms of story and character development. We can't always be with the ones we love every minute in real life, after all. And they say absence makes the heart grow fonder...**

**(Now with errors fixed – thanks GG!)**

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Chapter 13

Cleanup duty in Intensive Care turned out to be every bit the chore that Sakura had expected it to be. It was more than appropriate for punishment duty. What's worse, at least some of the acolytes and priests who were assigned to Intensive Care knew she was being sent there as punishment for underage romance, and she took a fair bit of teasing from the permanent staff. Sakura didn't mind, though. The work was dreary and long, but it was also worthwhile. Without proper cleaning and stocking, Intensive Care couldn't function. Hygiene was vital to any hospital setting, and it was even more critical here, where the systems of many of the patients had enough to deal with without additional pathogen exposure.

It was three days in Intensive Care before Sakura heard back from Shino. She'd almost forgotten about her task; almost, but not quite. She was relieved when he sent a message to her temple requesting her presence. She informed her supervisor, one Yashamaru, of the resumption of her task, and he'd waved his hand and nodded at her to go.

After washing up, she made her way to the Seven Tails' temple, where Shino was waiting patiently by the gate.

"Sakura. It is good to see you. I trust you are well?" The dark-haired youth asked, very formal as usual. Shino was like that, and most of their year cohort had accepted that he always would be.

"Hi Shino. I'm glad to see you too. I'm alright, although I'm doing some punishment duty when I'm not actively on a task," she said. The brunet shifted, clearly curious, sunlight reflecting off his dark glasses. The funny thing about Shino was that he was always eager for gossip, even if he pretended not to be.

"You aren't the type who usually gets punished." Shino commented as he turned to lead her to wherever he was keeping the remains of the tarsier. She could tell he was itching to ask why.

"No, not usually."

"What did you do?"

"It would be better to ask what _Gaara_ did," she said, succinctly. Shino paused, turning to look at her.

"Ah," was all he said. Then he turned back to leading her. "My insects have finished their task. Your tarsier is ready for mounting. You will need to do this yourself, but if you wish to ask us questions or view a demonstration, you are welcome to." Suddenly he was all business.

"Thank you, Shino. I think I might like to see a demonstration," she said. She'd read up on it already, but seeing it live (so to speak) might help.

Shino nodded. "I will demonstrate for you, then. I have time."

Shino's bugs had cleaned the bones to a pristine ivory, without disrupting a single one. The Seven Tails' acolyte explained that if they had been using regular beetles, they would have to ensure that no beetles, eggs or larvae remained hidden. However, his insects obeyed his commands and vacated the skeleton when they were done their work.

"You must be very careful carrying this. Too much motion and the bones will settle. You will want to memorize the position of the bones before you begin mounting. You may even wish to draw a picture to guide you." Shino suggested. Sakura nodded in response.

Shino led her to a workshop room, where there were several desks set up with tools. Sakura carefully placed the box of bones on one of the desks, while Shino retrieved something from a storage cabinet. It was another box of bones.

"What's that?" Sakura asked, as the other nin took a seat at the desk across from hers.

"Oh this? It's a rat skeleton that we use for practice. It's been assembled and disassembled so many times that I'm surprised none of the bones are missing," Shino said, lightly. "I'm going to use it to demonstrate how mounting is done."

She watched intently as Shino used the tools, including fishing line and wire, to reassemble the skeleton. He spoke as he worked, explaining what went where and how to avoid common pitfalls and mistakes. It was the most she'd ever heard Shino speak in one go. He was very good at what he was doing; his motions had a practiced ease and fluidity that made what he was doing look easy, though Sakura knew well enough that it wasn't.

Finally, Shino finished reassembling the rat. "Do you think you will be ok?" he asked.

"I _think_ so…"

"I have other duties to attend to, so that is all I can show you for today. But if you need help later on let me know. You are free to use any materials in this workshop to complete your task."

"Thanks, Shino."

"You're welcome, Sakura. Good luck." Shino left then.

Well, now she had to start this. She looked at the box with her tarsier skeleton in it, feeling a sense of trepidation. This was for a god; it would need to be _perfect_. Mistakes would not be tolerated. Shino's suggestion to make sure she had pictures or drawings first would help. She found a sketchbook and a drawing implement and proceeded to make very detailed sketches of the skeleton as it was, from every angle she could think of. **Her familiarity with anatomy was a great help with this. One more reason to be grateful for the temple she was dedicated to, she supposed.**After drawing the tarsier's bones several times, she felt confident that she would know what went where.

She found a lovely Y-shaped piece of wood that would do well as a mount, and prepared that. Then she gathered the tools she thought she would need and got to work.

It was an exacting task. Shino had made it look easy, and had quickly assembled the rat skeleton without error. Sakura found it was indeed far more difficult than it had looked. She started with the skull first, gluing portions and binding them with twine and sticks while it dried. Next, as Shino had, she assembled the spinal column next.

It was also a time consuming task, and Sakura was slightly surprised when an acolyte knocked on the door of the workshop and asked if she wanted to join the other clergy of the Seven Tails in their refectory for lunch. The pink-haired teen realized that she wouldn't make it back to her own temple in time to get food before the ravening horde devoured it all.

"I guess… am I welcome in your refectory?" Sakura asked, hesitantly.

"Of course," the acolyte said, with a smile that didn't reach his dead-looking black eyes. "We don't often have guests here. You will be welcome." He looked at her work. "Did you draw those?" he asked, indicating the drawings of the skeleton.

"Yeah."

"They are well done. What is your name?"

"Sakura."

"I am Sai. Come with me, I'll take you to the refectory."

Sakura followed the young man to the refectory, standing in line with him at the cafeteria and joining him at a table. The Seven Tails' refectory was not all that different from that of the Six Tails. The quality of the food was very similar, as was the type. What really set apart this refectory from her own were the conversations she overheard. In the Six Tails' refectory, it was not uncommon to overhear (or participate in) discussions of patient care, wounds, diseases, and recent events in the various hospital wards and the city. Here, there was similar shop talk; but the subjects were rather more morbid. Shinobi clergy discussed poisons and diseases, corpse preparation, and gossiped about the newly dead of the city and the temples.

She overheard two dedicated having a casual conversation about a recently deceased shinobi who was currently being prepared for funerary rites and immolation in a pyre. Another table was gossiping about a disease that seemed to be making it's way through one particular wealthy merchant's household in Miyajima City; speculating on whether or not any of the merchant's family would end up in the halls of the Seven Tails for funerary preparation soon. Another table was discussing the merits of cone snail toxin as compared to that of mamba snakes.

Sai led her to a table and they sat. A few minutes later, Shino joined them. He nodded a greeting to Sai, who nodded back.

"How is your progress, Sakura?" Shino asked.

"It's going well, but slow. I've got the spine assembled," she said.

"She drew pictures. She draws well." Sai interjected.

Shino gave another acknowledging nod. "Sai is an artist. The Watch likes to get him to draw pictures of crime scenes and victims for posterity and later analysis." Shino explained. Sai nodded.

"Oh," Sakura said. She wasn't quite sure what to say. Sai gave her that fake-looking smile again. She gave him a hesitant smile back.

The Six Tails' novice remained mostly silent through the meal, while Shino and Sai carried on a slow conversation (with plenty of gaps of silence) about some internal topic that she had little interest in. The dedicated of the god of death were certainly an odd bunch, if the casual way they discussed topics that would have others gagging was any indication. Especially since the discussion of those topics largely arose over _lunch_. Sakura figured that they probably developed strong stomachs in this temple. The Six Tails' dedicated developed strong stomachs, too. She realized her temple really wasn't all that better for dinner conversations, as medics might casually discuss wound debridement techniques, hemorrhagic fevers, or gut wounds at dinner, too. She wondered what table discussion was like at other temples.

They finished their food and both Shino and Sai rose without lingering over the empty plates to chat like Sakura, Ino and Hinata would do. They took their trays to the tray return, and then Sakura followed Sai back to the workshop. He gave her another almost-cheerful fake smile and a wave, and told her that he'd come by at supper to see if she was still there.

She went back to work, again losing her sense of her surroundings in the meticulous task. When Sai came by to bring her to the refectory again, she had managed to assemble most of the skeleton. All that remained were the ribs.

"You are coming along nicely," he said. "Good work."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled.

At the supper table, she overheard the same kinds of conversations as before. Sai and Shino idly discussed something that Sakura didn't want to think about too much. She thought about the black-haired artist. He seemed to be of an age as she and the rest of her friends.

"Sai?" she asked hesitantly during a lull in the young men's conversation. His liquid-ink black eyes met hers. "Did you transfer here from somewhere else?"

"Yes. I have been in Miyajima for three years. I am from Kubo city in the north," he replied.

So he'd come over already dedicated to the Seven Tails, and that was why she'd never encountered him before.

"Well, I hope you like it here," she commented.

Sai nodded, and gave another empty smile. "It is less humid and hot than Kubo. There are fewer interesting diseases. But there are more people, and there is more crime. I do a lot of work here."

All… righty… then. Sakura was slightly sorry she asked.

The next day she finished the skeleton, mounting it carefully on the wood. She brought with her to the temple the cured pelt of the tarsier to include as an additional offering. The skeleton of the tarsier were positioned much as she recalled seeing it in the wild; its tail was wrapped around the lower branch, and it was gripping the upper branch with its long-fingered skeletal hands. Its skull was turned, empty eye sockets facing outward. It was almost a work of art. A very, very creepy work of art. Sakura looked it over appraisingly. Shino had told her that her job was to mount it; the shinobi in the Seven Tails would finish any additional treatments required to keep it from spoiling.

She gave a shrug and took the mounted creature and the pelt to the offering room. She laid the pelt and the result of her task at the base of the obelisk, and knelt in prayer. Once more, that feeling of the god's presence suffused her as the Seven Tails gazed upon her work. Again, Sakura felt the god's approval. The Seven Tails was satisfied with the completion of her task. She felt that sensation of blessing again, and then the touch of the god was gone. Sakura was left blinking at the obelisk.

How strange was the contact between gods and mortals? Six times now she'd endured it, twice with each of the three gods for whom she had completed pilgrimage tasks. Sakura suspected that she'd never get used to it. She'd noticed that each god had a different 'feel', though they all had similarities in the undercurrent of sheer power. That made sense. Each god in the pantheon was different and had a different divine portfolio. Of course they would feel different. She wondered if the requirement for pilgrimage wasn't intended in part to expose would-be clergy to the feel of all of the gods, not just the one they served, in order to bind each shinobi closer to the pantheon as a whole. It would make sense.

But for now, her task for the Seven Tails was over. She rose, leaving the shrine. The next on her list was her own god, the Six Tailed Slug of Healing. She was feeling somewhat anxious about it. Sakura had heard that the tasks given to a god's own dedicated were usually a degree harder than the tasks given to the dedicated of other gods. That made sense to her, but she was still wondering what she would get.

For her offering, she brought a burn salve. She'd made the balm herself with several of the substances she'd gathered in the jungle. Burn salve was always in demand, and she knew it was a good offering. She placed it in the appropriate pile and knelt to pray.

The touch of her own god was familiar, and Sakura realized with a start that a portion of the Six Tails was always with her, or any of the other medic-nins, when they did their work. She sensed the god's amusement at her sudden realization, followed by a gentle, good-humoured whisper in her mind; '_of _course_ I'm with you'_. And then the god got down to the business of her pilgrimage task.

Sakura had gotten used to the somewhat disorienting process of having a god show her a vision, and so she didn't find it so dizzying when the Slug took her perspective once more outside of the temple complex and Miyajima City. She was less than surprised when that perspective swung north, to the jungle. There were so many many useful plants in the jungle, and everyone knew that only a fraction of them had been discovered. And so, she was unsurprised when the god showed her an orchid, deep within the jungle, and bade her to go and bring it to the temple.

The strong feminine touch of her god retreated, returning Sakura to her body and the familiar shrine. The young medic sucked in a shaky breath, and then rose. She would have to tell Tsunade that she was going back into the jungle. And probably Yashamaru as well, since she'd be more than a few days away. The god's vision indicated that the orchid she wanted was _deep_ within the jungle, and Sakura somehow doubted that she'd get by with just a day or two away from the temple.

But first, lunch. She'd spent yesterday eating in the refectory at the Seven Tails' temple, and the few days before that she'd been so busy at her punishment duty that she hadn't made it to the refectory until after most of the food was gone and most of the clergy had cleared out. And Hinata had been posted into a different unit from Intensive Care. She hadn't seen either of her two best friends in five days.

Sure enough, as she walked into the cafeteria, both Ino and Hinata spotted her instantly from the food line and waved at her. Once she got her food, she went over to them and slid into her usual seat.

"Oh my gods, Forehead, you _have_ to tell me if the rumour I heard is true!" Ino demanded before Sakura could even get her butt firmly planted in her seat. A wave of dread poured through the pink-haired teen. The young prodigy felt herself pale and then flush as Ino continued, confirming Sakura's suspicion. "I heard that you got punishment duty for kissing that One-Tail's red-haired acolyte! You have to tell me, did you do it? Ohhhh _you're blushing! _It's _true_, isn't it!" Ino's volume ratcheted up as the blonde became more and more certain of the truth.

"_Ino would you be quiet!_" Sakura snapped.

"I _knew_ it. It's true," the blonde novice grinned evilly, though she spoke in a quieter voice. Sakura felt like thumping her head on the table.

"Did you really get caught k-k-k-kissing?" Hinata all but whispered. The dark-haired girl was blushing. Sakura wasn't sure if it was some kind of sympathetic blush for solidarity's sake or because the girl was imagining a kissing of her own. With a certain blond-haired boy, naturally.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sakura said. She was still flaming red. How embarrassing.

"So you're into this Gaara guy, huh? Oh my gods, Forehead, I can't believe you got _caught_! You're a shinobi, you should be able to hide stuff like that better. Shikamaru and I-" Ino broke off what she was saying abruptly, and gave Sakura a look that made her feel even more incompetent. Sakura sank a little lower in her seat.

"Even Naruto agrees to be circumspect…" Hinata trailed off. Sakura shot her a slightly startled glance. The Hyūga was still blushing. Even Hinata? Oh gods, didn't _anyone_ follow the age rules?

"If it was up to me it would have never happened at all. Gaara just… did what he wanted, like he always does." Sakura grumbled.

"Did you like it at least?" Ino demanded, a wicked grin crossing her face. Sakura blushed hotter and stared resolutely at the table, trying to distract herself from the thoughts of kissing Gaara that flooded her mind. Wood grain, oh so interesting…

Ino howled with laughter.

"Are you in the kitchens?" Hinata asked gently.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "No, thank the Slug. Tsunade gave me a lecture and assigned me to 30 days duty in Intensive Care as the gopher and cleanup crew."

"Oh, I just finished a month there. Not as cleanup crew, though I did some of that. Every novice there is expected to do a little bit of that kind of thing. It's not bad. Yashamaru is a really nice man," Hinata said.

"30 days isn't so bad. Did your _Gaara_ get a punishment?" Ino smirked.

"I have no idea, I haven't seen him since. And if I have any say in it I'm going to slip out of the city without seeing him again. The last thing I need is another 30 days tacked on to the end of that punishment duty," Sakura let out a frustrated breath.

"You just need to learn how to hide better," Ino snorted. "And what do you mean out of the city? Where are you going? Do you have another task?"

Ino's rapid-fire questions had Sakura blinking and Hinata gazing at the pink-haired girl with a wide-eyed look that begged for more information. "Uhh," Sakura shifted in her seat, "yeah, to the jungle for the Six Tails. To get an orchid, one I think is supposed to be for medicine."

"The jungle again? Isn't that scary?" Hinata breathed.

"Not really. This time I can move about in the day," Sakura stated. "I don't have to stumble around in the jungle at night, dodging jaguars and tripping over roots." Not that she had. She was too good a shinobi to trip over roots and no jaguars had bothered her. But travel through the jungle at night was by no means the most fun activity in which she had ever taken part.

"Ew, there'll probably be bugs everywhere and I'll bet it'll rain the whole time," Ino said, wrinkling her nose and shifting in her seat. Sakura thought the other girl looked a little nervous for some reason. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow," Sakura replied. "I'm going to spend the rest of today supplying." With what meagre funds she had left to her, anyway. But the temple stores would be open to her for things like rations and carrying bags, considering that she would be coming back not only with the orchid but with other medicinal herbs and substances.

"I'm glad I don't have to go to the jungle yet," Hinata said.

"Oh, did you start your pilgrimage?" Sakura looked at her shy friend.

Hinata beamed. "Yes, we both did! My first task is to find a perfectly circular flat rock. Naruto has to find a piece of driftwood that looks like a fox."

"Do you always have to _find_ things for the Nine Tails?" Ino rolled her eyes.

"Seems that way," Sakura commented. "After all, finding something takes luck."

"I can't believe you guys. You're leaving me behind!" Ino sighed.

"Start your pilgrimage then." Sakura had absolutely no sympathy for the blonde right now. Ino would have to overcome whatever fear was holding her back and just get on with it. Eventually she would have to do her pilgrimage, or… something. Not doing it was unheard of. What happened to a novice that never did their pilgrimage? Were they kicked out or something? Sakura decided that when she was finally done her punishment duty and had free time, she'd consult the archives to see if she could find any cases of shinobi who failed to do their pilgrimages and find out what fate was in store for Ino if the other girl couldn't get her ass in gear.

Ino's big blue eyes filled up with tears at Sakura's no-nonsense words. Hinata and Sakura both gave their friend a slightly concerned glance. Seriously, what was Ino's problem?

"Ino—?" Sakura began inquiringly, but the blonde thumped her fists on the table and stood up rapidly.

"Shut up! Go into the jungle, I don't care. Just come back alive, ok?" Ino snapped, and then stomped off abruptly, leaving the two girls staring at her in amazement (and quite a few of the Six Tail's dedicated blinking in confusion at her dramatic exit).

"What was _that_ all about?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"I have _no_ clue," Hinata replied. "Do you think Ino's going to be ok? She's not going to get kicked out is she?"

"I don't think so but I don't know. She's going to have to do her pilgrimage. I really don't know _why_ she's so scared."

"Me either," Hinata agreed.

The two girls ate their food, which had gone stone-cold during the conversation. Sakura didn't mind. Food was food. Sure, it was better hot, but it still got the job done cold. Her mind was on other things. Even Hinata and Naruto were sneaking around kissing? She knew the Hyūga was into the goofy blond, but Sakura would have guessed that Hinata would be at least as concerned about getting caught fooling around underage as _she_ was. Hinata, sneaky? What a hilarious idea. Yet it seemed that even the shy, by-the-books dark-haired girl was unable to resist the appeal of the opposite sex. Sakura felt like less of a failure then.

"How long do you think you'll be in the jungle?" Hinata asked, breaking Sakura's reverie.

"No clue," Sakura said. "This orchid is not one I know, so it could be deep in the jungle. I'm going to prepare for a trip of a few weeks just in case." She didn't say that it would keep her out of Intensive Care that long. Her punishment would be waiting when she returned. Tsunade was a sly one. If she'd just said that Sakura would be punished for a month, then the teen would probably be more than half done already by the time she got back from the jungle.

"I agree with Ino; be careful and come back to us safely," Hinata said.

"I will," Sakura grinned. "And my advice to you, Hinata, is don't get caught."

Hinata blushed deeply, and Sakura had to stifle the giggle that rose to her lips as she stood to take her tray to the kitchen return. She took Ino's too. The food was only half-eaten; Sakura had arrived to the cafeteria late and that was probably the only reason Ino had gotten any of it into her mouth. That conversation had left no room for food. Ino must have been really upset. Tsunade had given them all a stern lecture two years ago when all three girls had gone on a 'diet', and impressed upon them the necessity for a healer to be well fuelled. None of the girls had skipped a meal deliberately since.

Preparing for the trip took up the rest of the day. She made her trip to Yashamaru to inform him of her coming absence. He had nodded sagely and wished her good luck.

After her frenzy of activity, she had just enough energy that night to find her bed and fall instantly asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her gear was already packed and ready to go as soon as she woke up, with the dawn the next day.


	14. Chapter 14

**It's fun seeing the speculations going on. All I'm going to say is I'm not going to spoil it for you. Keep reading the story to find out :)**

**Thanks to GG for pointing out some fixables to me, thanks to my betas danyel and Musichowler, and thanks to all of you for reading this. By the way, we're officially out of the NaNoWriMo content and into stuff I've written since January.**

* * *

Chapter 14

"_It's punishment, I swear."_ It was One, again, and Sakura found herself once more with her back pressed against that featureless, white wall, listening around a corner while these two talked.

"_What, it's just a mission. And you yourself said it was an important one."_

"_Be that as it may, it still feels like I'm being punished,"_ One grumbled.

"_Well, did you do something _worth_ punishing?"_ Two's grin could be _heard_, even if Sakura still couldn't see his face.

"_No! I just happened to get _caught!_"_ One's disgust was palpable. Two laughed.

"_So what is it you need to do? I know you're far away or we wouldn't be able to talk like this."_

"_It's just scouting for now. You know our enemies have been testing the borders for years now. But it's intensified now and the council has me out here with a team to look around for trouble. There's going to be more of these missions over the next while, for all of us,"_ One said, in a serious tone.

"_We knew it was going to happen. We were just gambling on being able to get our task done first."_ Two's usually care-free tone was serious.

"_We gambled and lost, my old friend. Not enough luck I guess," _One's voice was slightly teasing, despite the gravity of whatever situation it was they were talking about.

"_Hey, it's _hard_ here, you know that,"_ Two stated defensively.

"_Oh I know it. I know all about it. There's so much about this situation that's absolutely annoying me to pieces. But you and I both know we have to get through it, and so do _they_. Once we finish _our_ mission, things will get easier. It always does."_ One seemed confident that things would work out, despite his earlier complaints. Sakura wondered if he just needed to complain for the sake of having a listening ear. Well, he had two right now; he just didn't know about _one_ of them. Sakura found herself sympathising with these two mysterious talkers.

"_Well, I have good news at least. Things are going well for _us_,"_ Two's voice was chipper again.

"_Glad it's working out for _one_ of us at least,"_ One grumbled.

"_Things aren't going well?"_

"_They're going slow. We really don't have the _time_ for this dancing around!"_

Two just laughed.

"_I mean it. Things are going to get bad here soon, and I'm going to need to be able to act or we could lose everything!"_ One insisted.

"_You always overreact,"_ Two said dismissively.

"_No I don't. And, I love her. I don't know why the intensity of it always catches me by surprise; it's the same every time. Ever since I first saw her I can't keep her out of my thoughts. I don't know how people deal with all of this on a regular basis, it's so distracting. When we're at home the love is still there, but it doesn't keep me from getting _work_ done! The only thing that makes it bearable down here is the fact that I _know_ she loves me just as much, now that I've gotten to know her again. But if we don't bind ourselves together soon, I worry that we might not be prepared for when we are needed."_

Two laughed. _"You worry too much. You'll be fine, I've seen how she looks at you."_

"_You just say that because you're almost guaranteed to be sealed to yours within the next few months. I'm going to have to _wait_, and you know how much I love waiting. So much can happen in a year. That's enough about all of this, though. I hate to cut this short but I _still_ have work to do. I hate sleeping. It's such a waste of time when I could be getting things _done,_" _One muttered.

"_Alright, old friend. You be careful out there!"_ Two said.

A slight shuffling sound beside her alerted Sakura to the fact that she wasn't alone. She whirled.

"Hinata?"

The dark-haired girl's eyes widened and her head whipped to face Sakura. "S-S-Sakura?" Hinata exclaimed in the same bewildered tone Sakura had used. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"I don't—,"

"_Quiet, I just heard something! We have watchers. Spies! I'm going to look into this."_ One barked, his voice taking a menacing turn. Sakura's eyes widened.

"_You don't think it's Or—."_ But whatever Two thought the girls might be Sakura never heard, for she woke up at that moment and nearly fell out of her tree. As she grappled to keep her place on the branch she'd chosen to sleep on, she reviewed the strange dream and what it might mean.

She'd had a dream like that once before, she recalled vaguely. She'd forgotten it at the time but she remembered it now. But Hinata hadn't been there, only herself. This time Hinata was there. What a peculiar dream. It didn't seem particularly dream-like, come to think about it.

Sakura finally got semi-comfortable on her tree branch again. She closed her eyes in the darkness and listened to the sounds of the jungle around her. What if those weren't dreams? She couldn't think of anything in her life that might lead her subconscious to dream about conversations between two men she didn't know; no matter how she tried to spin the symbolisms. What if this was some kind of communication jutsu, using dreams? And somehow, Sakura and Hinata and intercepted them.

But why would Sakura and Hinata stumble into someone else's dream jutsu? Or perhaps, more importantly, _how_ could they do that? Maybe it was just a dream after all. Sakura decided that she wasn't going to get anywhere worrying about it in a tree in the middle of the night, and decided to go back to sleep.

When she woke again, sunlight was filtering through the canopy and the forest was already a riot of noise. She rose, feeling slightly guilty for sleeping so late. After a week and a half in the jungle, getting subsequently deeper and deeper, the lustre of the task was starting to wear off and be replaced with the pure need to get it done.

It was a little easier than the Seven Tails' task, since Sakura was moving around mostly in the daylight; and sure, she'd found a large number of valuable medicinal substances (which made their way into the many bags and pockets she possessed)… but she was ready to be _done_ now. Home and her meagre, narrow bed in the novitiate never seemed as lovely as they did after spending night after night sleeping on tree branches. She'd even dodged a jaguar once or twice. Thank the gods for chakra and the complex systems of wards and alerts that she'd learned and implemented.

This morning she supplemented her dry rations with several fruits she was fairly certain were edible. The jungle certainly offered its share of strange treasures, if one was willing to risk the humidity, heat, predators, insects, and other hazards. She'd discovered varieties of fruits like bananas and papayas that bore only enough resemblance to the familiar market fruits for her to identify them – and discovered that the wild thing was sometimes much better than the tame, and sometimes much _worse_.

Her training as a medic and the poison-testing kit she'd brought along had allowed her to keep from accidentally eating something that could kill her. She'd packed some of _those_ in special pouches to take back to the temples for further analysis. Sometimes the cause could make a potent cure, and if not, well, surely someone could find a use for it. They were shinobi after all, and rumours of trouble on the southern and western borders were starting to become more common.

Finishing her breakfast, she packed up her small camp and prepared for another day of searching. Orchids Sakura had seen aplenty, but not like the one the god had shown her. They grew all over the place; in the ground and on the trees she travelled through. The kind she was looking for grew on trees, which was fortunate, because it meant she could travel by tree and still look for them. If she had to travel on the ground, it would have taken her much longer to navigate the tangles of roots and vegetation. It wasn't long before Sakura was jumping from branch to branch; her senses focused not only on ensuring she didn't bail on a tree branch but on checking each tree as she passed for evidence of the orchid.

She wasn't lucky that day, or the next. And then, nearly two weeks after she left for the jungle, she found the orchid. It was the exact same plant that the Six Tails had shown her, Sakura was certain. Blooms that had been fresh when the god gave her the vision were wilting, and there were new ones already open and beautiful. The plant was settled in the crotch of a tree, rooted amongst the detritus that had gathered there, with tendrils dangling down to catch moisture and nutrients.

Sakura smiled to herself, leaping to the huge branch and settling down to examine the orchid. The blooms were beautiful; a vivid purple with blue towards the edges of the petals, with a small structure at the centre that was bright magenta. And the scent that wafted from the flowers was nothing short of amazing. She considered that the scent of the orchid could probably start a fad in Miyajima.

Now, how to go about harvesting it? She didn't want to damage the plant too much by her harvest. Which part was the most medicinal? The flower? The seeds? The stalks, leaves, or root structure? She didn't know. She considered the plant, touching it gently after doing a quick chakra test to make sure it didn't secrete any contact poisons or irritants.

In her gentle exploration of the plant, Sakura made an interesting discovery. The whole thing wasn't even truly _attached_ to the tree at all. It was tangled well into the leaf litter and dirt that sat on top of the branch, but it wasn't fastened to the tree. She supposed that made sense – the plant was drawing its nutrients not from the tree but from the water and air, and the dirt that had settled _on_ the tree.

She stopped for a moment as an idea came to her suddenly. Why take a cutting or just a part at all? Why not take the whole plant? She had a bag that would hold the root system well, and she could rig a harness to carry it without too much harm. Perhaps it could be propagated at the temples, too. Then, they would not only have the healing powers of the orchid just until the last of it ran out, but for as long as the plant and its children thrived.

Grinning to herself she began the delicate work of extracting the plant from its tree-branch home without damaging any of it. Her skill as a healer came in handy; she sensed where the plant was weaker and more prone to damage and strengthened it with small flows of chakra. Thus it was a very healthy and sound plant that rested in the pack which she gently strapped to her back.

She kept it nursed with bursts of gentle chakra all the long trip back through the jungle. And it was a very long trip back. It had taken her nearly two weeks to find the plant; it took her nearly two weeks to get out. She'd wandered far to the northeast, going deeper into the jungle rather than straight north to Fire Mountain. The sense she'd gotten from the Six Tails' vision had suggested that was the best way to complete her task.

Thus it was that Sakura had been in the jungle an entire month by the time she finally returned to Miyajima City; dirty, tired and triumphant. She dashed back to the temple complex as fast as she could, as eager for a hot shower, clean clothes, and real food as she was to hand in the orchid and complete her task. She'd decided the order she'd do it in too. She'd shower and change into decent clothes first, because she didn't want to present herself before her god filthy and more jungle than woman, which is how she felt right now.

She cleared the gate, leaping over the startled-looking honour guard on duty. They didn't challenge her – no-one but shinobi moved like that, and enemy shinobi wouldn't go by right in front of the guards. Her feet hit the wavy fired-clay tiles that roofed the entire complex as she dashed across a small outbuilding in the One Tail's yard. She glanced at the practice ground, idly wondering if she'd spot the familiar thatch of red and dark smudge of eyes, but didn't see any trace of Gaara. Someone in the yard waved at her as she passed, and she gave an absent wave back.

Well, maybe she'd broken that habit of always running into him. Quite frankly, Sakura didn't want to be spotted by Gaara right now. Her hair was in tangles, her clothes had seen waaaay too much use since she last changed them, and her skin was filthy. Not to mention, she had a plant on her back. It would have been awkward fending off his advances with a big orchid sticking up behind her like some ridiculous accessory. Nevertheless, a small part of her was disappointed that he wasn't there to greet her on her return from the jungle. She'd been gone a _month_, after all.

In the courtyard of the Six Tails, a priest who was sweeping near one of the Slug's statues paused her to welcome her back. She tried to be courteous and polite while Iyashi asked her about the jungle (as if he couldn't see half of it on her) and her task (because the orchid resting in her pack was _not_ obvious at all). Finally she gave him a brief bow and what she hoped was a friendly smile, and spoke; "I really do need to give this to the Six Tails and complete my task."

"Oh, of course, pardon me Sakura," Iyashi said, giving her a nod. "Good luck with your next task."

"Thank you!" She tossed him a jaunty wave as she ran into the temple.

The bags of medicinal findings and the orchid would be safe in her cell while she showered, she decided. She swung down the novitiate's hallway, intent on her small room.

"SAKURA!" Ino's voice stopped her dead in her tracks. The tired teen whirled, eyes widening to see Ino with tears streaming down her face, her blonde ponytail swishing from side to side as she dashed down the hallway towards Sakura. Ino had called her by _name_, she never did that. Sakura had been 'Forehead' to her since they were both 6 and newly initiated.

"Ino, what—oof!" Sakura didn't have a chance to finish her inquiry; Ino hit with full force, arms going around her pink-haired friend tightly.

"You're alive, you're alive!" Ino howled, then sniffed dramatically.

"Ino, the orchid!" Sakura protested.

"Oh!" The blond relaxed her grip, and Sakura's swift chakra check revealed no damage done to the poor, well-travelled plant. Ino's right hand rose to dash away her tears. "Sorry. I was just so worried when you were gone a month and there was no word of you. I thought the j-j-jungle had k-k-killed you." She gave a dramatic sniff.

Emerald green eyes met sky blue eyes, and Sakura could see for herself the sincere concern of her friend. "Oh, Ino," Sakura said, voice thick with sympathy. "I'm alright, you see that now. The jungle wasn't any trouble. There were only a few jaguars, and—,"

Not the right thing to say. Ino just bawled louder.

"Ino, Ino, it's ok. I'm _back_, alright? I'm ok, and I'm alive. The jungle didn't kill me!" Sakura insisted. "What's _wrong_, Ino?"

"Sakura? Is that you? You're back!" Another familiar voice called from the door to Hinata's cell. "Oh, what's wrong with Ino?"

"I can't, you, I, uh!" Ino babbled, choking herself off with a sob.

"It's ok, Ino. I'm back home now," Sakura repeated. "I'm home safe, you can calm down."

"I… am… calm…" Ino struggled to say between gulping sobs. She leaned into Sakura's comforting pats.

"I'm sorry, Ino, that doesn't look very calm," Hinata commented. Sakura gave the Hyūga girl an odd look. Whatever had gone on in the month she was away, it was clear something had changed with Hinata. The dark-haired, pale-eyed girl was talking and moving with far more confidence than Sakura had ever seen in her before.

"I'll… be all right." Ino managed, pulling away from Sakura. "I'm just glad you're home s-s-s-safe is all, Forehead."

Well. Ino must be all right. She was using Sakura's _proper_ nickname again. Once upon a time, Sakura had hated that moniker, and she still resented it… from anyone but Ino.

"What's going on, Ino?" Sakura demanded.

"It's noth—," Ino began, but _Hinata_ of all people interrupted.

"It's _not_ nothing, not if you're getting that upset, Ino. We're your friends, you can tell us."

Ino dashed another tear from her eyes and looked to one friend and then the other. She swallowed visibly. "I-I-I don't know…" then she steeled herself, "You know what? You two are my best friends. You have a right to know. I'll tell you what's wrong, but not right now, ok? Come to my cell tonight after the evening meal."

Hinata and Sakura both gave Ino a slightly startled look. There was obviously a story here and neither of the two had any idea what was going on. But Sakura knew there was _no way_ she was going to miss Ino's story. If anything, she had to be there for her friend; it was obvious that there was something very deep bothering Ino.

Hinata nodded. "Of course, Ino," she said.

"Yeah, I'll come too," Sakura put in. "I just need to do a few things first."

"Yeah," Ino agreed, wrinkling her nose at Sakura. "You're a little ripe." The blonde smiled.

"Ugh, don't tell me, I've had to live with my own stink for too long," the pink-haired teen laughed. "I need to do some errands and go give this flower to the Six Tails, and then I'll meet you in the refectory for supper, ok?"

"Go shower, Sakura!" Hinata laughed. Ino nodded in agreement.

Hot water and soap were surely gifts from the gods themselves, Sakura considered several minutes later as she lathered up in the shower stall in the female novice's bathroom. It took a few washes to get her hair clean and the only thing that could remove the tangles was gentle work with a sturdy comb; but she eventually got the last of the jungle off her body. Dear gods, it felt wonderful to be clean!

She towelled off and wrapped herself in one of the terry robes kept in all the bathrooms, and then went back to her cell. She dug out clean clothes from her small chest and donned them quickly. The orchid and the bags with medicines were resting gently on her bed; none the worse for the delay. She gathered them up and left for the shrine.

Her heart was beating with excitement as she knelt at the shrine, holding the orchid in its bag in her cupped hands. This was _her_ god's task that she was handing in, and to be honest, that was somewhat more thrilling than turning in the tasks of other gods had been. She closed her eyes and focused, using her medical knowledge to calm her breathing and heart in order to reach the right state of mind to communicate with her god.

"_Welcome back, daughter."_ Sakura was filled with the warmth of the god's greeting. The power of that vast mind touched her and left her feeling like a soaring bird. She could hear and understand the Six Tails far better than she could the other gods she'd contacted thus far. She was beginning to recognise that bond that she had with her god was ever-present, through dint of being among the Six Tails' dedicated. _"You have done well in your task. You have not only brought back the orchid, but you have brought it back in such a way that it will benefit my children for generations if well tended. I am pleased with you, daughter. Farewell and be blessed."_

The warmth of that presence intensified, and Sakura felt filled with her god's holy power. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the strong chakra that flowed into her as the Six Tails blessed her before withdrawing. Sakura was still for a long moment, and then she let her breath out slowly as she opened her eyes and rose.

The Six Tails had blessed her, as the other gods had. An inner part of her knew now that she would always heal quickly from whatever wounds she took, and her body would refuse no chakra healing. And her own prowess with healing others would be improved, too. Her god had given her the knowledge of this, as well as the blessing itself.

How strange it was, she pondered, that she could receive this depth of knowledge from the Six Tails, and hear the god so clearly. Sakura's experience with the others had been less intense. There had been no words at _all_ with the Seven Tails or the Nine Tails, and the Eight Tails had only spoken enough to indicate the task. She wondered briefly if novices from those temples experienced the same closeness with their gods as she had with hers. What an interesting theory.

Well, now she was done her task for the Six Tails. Next was the Five Tails. She wondered what the god of agriculture and the field would task her with. She'd already been asked to plough _one_ field. She grinned to herself as she made her way to the Five Tails' complex. This pilgrimage stuff wasn't as horrible as she'd thought, at least not _yet_. Nothing had been beyond her capabilities. Although, after a month in the jungle, she was seriously hoping she wouldn't get sent back there again any time soon. She needed some time at home.

She smiled at the clergy of the Five Tails who greeted her as she entered the gates. She didn't know anyone in this temple; none of her cohort had gone to the Five Tails. The god was more popular in the fertile farmlands of the south. The Five Tails had the southernmost head temple of any of the gods, in Arakawa Trade City; the Miyajima City temple was a branch temple and a small one at that.

From what Sakura knew, the temple was the most major set of structures and quite possibly the only permanent structures _in_ Arakawa. The rest of the city was made of up tents and temporary stalls and served as a base of operations for most of the caravans that took produce from the fertile lands to the desert, and returned with the ore, precious metals, and gems that were the wealth of the mountains and the desert. There were three good passes through the mountain range that separated the soft and lush east-lands of the Five Temples nation from the mineral-rich yet harsh lands of the desert. The Arakawa pass was the easiest to navigate, especially during the rainy season. She wondered suddenly if Gaara had come by the Arakawa route.

"Are you looking for the shrine?" a voice interrupted her thoughts, and Sakura looked up at a tall, old, bald, smiling priest in pale green clothes. His knees were smudged with dirt and there were chlorophyll stains scattered on his clothes. His hands were still coated in rich black loam. Sakura glanced around, and realized he'd been planting flowers at the foot of one of the statues, while she'd been staring off into space.

"Uhhhh yeah, I'm doing my pilgrimage," she managed, dumbly. She sneaked another glance at the statues. What exactly _was_ a dolphin-horse, anyway? Was it blasphemous to think that the animal form of a god was strange looking?

"Come this way, my dear," the priest invited her. She followed him, dipping a hand into one of her many pouches to withdraw her offering; a bag of highly concentrated fertilizer which she had put together while in the jungle. She'd been thinking ahead. The priest led her to the shrine inside the temple, where she knelt and cleared her mind in prayer.

She was able to discern that contact took longer than with the Six Tails, something she hadn't been cognizant of before. But the Five Tails came to her and received her offering all the same. He was unfamiliar, as unfamiliar in his own way as the Seven Tails had been, with none of her warmth. His greeting was a polite sense of acknowledgement; not like the slightly mischievous Nine Tails or the powerful and jovial Eight Tails.

She couldn't hear words with him; perhaps it had something to do with the lack of deep connection. Instead, the god showed her a small, brown object, which suddenly began unfurling – a seed, germinating. With impossible swiftness, the seed sent up a shoot, which turned into a sapling, which turned into a towering tree with branches full of fruit. Sakura felt a moment of dismay, despite herself. Surely the god did not expect her to conduct her pilgrimage until the tree was mature?

The sensation of laughter from the god forced her out of her worries and centered her back into her contact with him. Wordlessly, the god told her not to fear. He once more showed her the seed, and this time it grew only to a small seedling. She was to germinate that seed, and bring him the young, established tree.

Sakura concentrated on sending her acceptance of the task to the Five Tails, and sensed his slightly amused acknowledgement of that. Then the contact broke off, and the presence of the Five Tails left her. As seemed to be the case after deep contact with any of the gods, she felt a little bit like the air had been let out of her. One deep breath and she was back to normal, rising from the shrine to go find out what that tree was, and where she could get some seeds to try to germinate.


	15. Chapter 15

**Yeah GG, that's how we spell 'acknowledgement' in Canada and Great Britain. :)**

**Sorry about the delay, people. As some of you no doubt already know, there was some trouble with the site and I couldn't post the chapter (or fix old chapters). **

**I'm going through my buffer at about twice the speed I end up writing chapters, so it's a sure bet that I'm going to run out of finished chapters before I run out of story. There's additional delay between my writing a chapter and being able to post it; I insist that my material is seen by a beta before I post and my betas (much like myself) have a turnaround time. Because of this, the story may be going to every two weeks. Before I hear the chorus of 'noooooooo', every two weeks is preferable to indefinite hiatus. Work has me working some long-assed hours and I'm dealing with some health conditions, which are also impacting my ability to write prolifically. I'm thinking of making April a kind of mini-NaNoWriMo (it's actually Script Frenzy but I can't write scripts to save my life), with a goal of 25,000 words for the month, though. That should help.

* * *

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Chapter 15

"You have to germinate a _what_?" Ino snorted. It was a few hours after the evening meal and the three of them were in Ino's cell. She'd promised to tell them her story, but she didn't seem in much of a hurry. First, it seemed, she had to grill Sakura on her next task.

"A _roho_ seed. They're notoriously hard to sprout," Sakura said with a sigh. Hinata gave a tiny little giggle at the pink-haired girl's exasperation and continued her finger-weaving. The long snake of cloth scraps that the girl had woven together would become a coiled rug someday, not unlike the one Sakura now sat upon.

"What's that?" The blonde queried.

"I don't really know. Some kind of fruit tree from farther south where it's colder."

"So how exactly do you sprout a _roho_ seed?" Hinata smiled, turning her pupil-less Hyūga eyes on Sakura.

"Well, first you freeze it for a few days…" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"_Freeze_? You're going to have to ask the cook for help with that. Or find an ice user," Ino laughed.

"I know," Sakura muttered. She was betting on the kitchen. She didn't know any ice users offhand; that talent didn't seem to show up as frequently in the sub-tropical Nine Temples region.

"You said first. What happens next?" Hinata was always a sharp one, and it was just all the more apparent now that she was actually speaking _up_. Sakura was still marvelling at the change in the girl over the month she'd been in the jungle.

"Well, then it's got to soak in _cool_ water for at least a few days. After that, it needs to be covered loosely in wet soil composed mostly of silt, and the soil allowed to dry over a period of several days. After _that_, you wait a week or two and see if anything green pops up." Sakura sighed again. It sounded like it would be another month before she could get her next task. It would be April by then. By the time she got all of these done, she might very well BE 18, or well on her way there!

"Why all of those convoluted steps?" Ino asked.

"I think I know," Hinata offered, "it must be a mountain plant. The cold mimics the winter, and the wet mimics the thawing of the heavy snowfall. The gradual drying would be consistent with the water running off. Same with soil with a lot of silt in it."

Both Ino and Sakura gave her a look of surprise.

"I think you must be right," Sakura said.

"The gods have some mighty strange tasks," Ino commented. "Eat a bunch of clams, plough a field, kill some poor animal, sprout a _tree_… Well, at least you don't have to wait around for it to grow up and become a big tree."

Sakura laughed and debated telling Ino that she'd wondered that herself before the god communicated that she only needed the seedling. "Yeah, at least. It's going to be time consuming. The Five Tails' priest gave me a small pile of seeds – apparently 80% of them fail even if you do it right. So I've got a few chances. It sounds like most of this task will be sitting around waiting. I'm going to have plenty of opportunity to use up the rest of those punishment days."

Ino chuckled at Sakura's chagrined comment. Even Hinata looked vaguely amused. "Don't get _caught_ next time," the blonde suggested.

"There's not going to _be_ a next time." Sakura insisted.

"You say that _now_. But I bet you'll feel differently when he's looking into your eyes, and you're looking into his eyes, and you both feel like you could drown in those depths…" Hinata trailed off, small smile and a slight blush tempering her distant look.

"Or lying on your back in the grass next to him, looking up at the clouds," Ino commented.

Sakura gave an unladylike snort. "You two are such romantics. It's totally not like that."

"Yeah right, Forehead," Ino shot back, tone suggesting she wouldn't take an argument.

"Besides, I haven't seen him anywhere, and I've been back since this morning. If I was _that_ important, he'd be here to greet me," Sakura couldn't entirely keep a little self-pity out of her biting tone. Gaara had always managed to cross her path one way or another whether she wanted it or not, but he'd failed in that now.

"I think Naruto said he's out of town. You know they're good friends, right?" Hinata asked. Sakura nodded. "Well, he told me that Gaara had to do some missions. Naruto doesn't know when he'll be back."

Missions, huh? Sakura felt a little bit mollified at that. Shinobi _could_ say no to missions, it was just _terribly_ bad form. The missions she had conducted had mostly consisted of healing people who had already come to the Six Tails' temple. She'd never been out of town on missions, except on training missions, and well, her recent tasks.

She wondered what it was like to go on an actual shinobi _mission_. She wondered if Gaara was having an exciting time. She wondered if he missed her. She missed him. Did she seriously just have that thought? Yeah, yeah, she did. Sakura had to admit to herself that she missed him, and she'd been disappointed when he didn't show to greet her like she'd been half expecting. She hoped he'd get back soon, and be able to tell her all about it.

"Forehead? Are you feeling ok? You've been kind of quiet," Ino's tone shifted to teasing and she gave Sakura a sly look. "Or are you missing a certain red-headed One Tail acolyte?"

Sakura was blushing. Ino's triumphant hoot would have told her even if the warmth of her face hadn't.

"That's enough, Ino," Hinata intervened, causing Sakura to raise an eyebrow internally once more. Had Naruto's company truly wrought so many changes in her friend? "Sakura misses Gaara. You would too if it was Shikamaru who was on that mission. And why are we discussing Gaara? Weren't you going to tell us something tonight?"

A look of dread washed over Ino's face. Then she seemed to steel herself. "Ok, I'll tell you. But it would go down more easily with some tea."

"Then maybe we'd better see if the kitchen has a pot we can have," Hinata commented sagely. Ino nodded as the dark-haired girl rose.

"I'll go with you. Maybe we can scare up some cookies," Sakura put in.

"Don't leave me here!" Ino protested.

"Then come with us," Hinata smiled back. Ino got up from where she was sitting on her bed and followed the other two novices to the kitchen, where they were able to beg a pot of tea and three cups from the cooks, and even managed to wrangle a few sweets when the kindly night chef found out the three novices were having a girl's night. The old woman had a soft spot for that kind of thing.

Back in Ino's room, in their comfortable spots, Hinata poured the tea while Sakura sorted the sweets onto three plates. Ino sat on her bed with her knees in her arms and watched them. Once all three girls had tea and a treat, she took a sip of her tea and a bite of the sweet, and spoke. "I had a brother, once," she said, tone almost casual. But there was a tormented quaver beneath it that told Sakura she was anything but.

Both Sakura and Hinata stared at the blonde, shocked. Hinata gestured for Ino to continue. The girl blinked rapidly, maybe blinking back tears, and took a fortifying sip of tea. Ino had a _brother_, and they'd never known? Clearly there was a tale behind this.

"The Yamanaka clan aren't quite hereditary shinobi, but many of us come to the temples. It's customary for any child of our clan who has chakra control to dedicate. I became an initiate at four, you might remember that." Sakura and Hinata nodded. The memories of that time were more than vague, but the three of them been fast friends from barely out of toddlerhood.

Ino took another sip of tea. "I had a brother, an older brother. He was ten years older than me and dedicated to the Two Tails. I adored him. He was the sun and moon for me, my big brother. Sometimes when he had a pass to the city he'd bring me back sweets, and he'd carry me on his shoulders… he was always laughing and smiling." Her voice was bittersweet in remembrance.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"He died." Again, Ino's tone was deceptively light. Her sudden sniffle told of how hard it was to keep her voice steady.

"What? How?" Hinata gasped.

"No one knows. He was 17, on his pilgrimage. He was on his third task, for the Eight Tails, and he was in the jungle. He went in, and never came back out." Ino's voice _did_ crack at that point. Her two best friends watched her shake with restrained sobs. They shared a look. Though they wanted to give her more comfort, it was obvious that if they hugged her, the rest of the story would be lost in the tears.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, breathlessly. The memories were hazy, but she recalled a time in their childhood when Ino had been so sad, for months, and she'd never known why. Ino had only ever shook her head and turned away from Sakura and Hinata when they had asked about her sadness. Was the death of her brother the reason why?

"After he was gone for two months, they decided they should find out what happened to him. All they found was some of his clothing, tattered and covered in blood, and a few of his pouches scattered all over." Ino's speech was punctuated with sniffles, and her voice cracked frequently. "Something in that damned jungle killed him, and probably _ate_ him, too. The jungle and the pilgrimage killed my Deidara, my big brother." The sobs finally escaped as she began to cry.

Hinata and Sakura put down their plates and tea and sat beside Ino, on either side of the crying girl, putting their arms around her. Ino cried for a long while, face buried in her knees. Her two friends met gazes over her head. Poor Ino. How could they help her? They had to do _something_, she was their friend!

"Ino…" Sakura began. The blonde looked up, eyes reddened from crying. "Ino, I'm so sorry. I never knew."

"I couldn't talk about it back then," Ino confessed. "Even now I have a hard time."

"Oh Ino… I wish there was some way we could make this better," Hinata sighed. "Maybe Deidara isn't dead. They didn't find a body, right? Just stuff. What if he hit his head and lost his memories and wandered to another town?"

"I can't believe that could happen; the gods would bring him back to us somehow if he'd just had amnesia. He would have been found by a temple and restored to himself. No, Hinata, he's dead," Ino moaned. She roughly dashed a tear from her big blue eyes with the back of her hand. "I want to serve the gods, I truly do. But I'm _terrified_. I don't want to go to the jungle and end up like Deidara; no one coming to find my body until my bones have already been scattered by jaguars and all that's left are a few kunai and some bloody clothes. Almost every novice gets sent into the jungle at least once. And Sakura, every time you go, I have nothing but visions of you torn to pieces and scattered everywhere and it horrifies me. I couldn't bear to lose either of you. This last month has been torture, wondering if you were even coming back _at all_."

Sakura's own eyes were brimming, and she could see that Hinata's were the same. This story was so tragic. The pink-haired girl understood now why Ino kept putting off her pilgrimage, and why she was so upset every time Sakura got sent to the jungle. Deidara's death was a terrible thing to think about.

"Ino," Hinata began hesitantly. The blonde looked up, face expectant. It was strange how the tears brought out the blue in her eyes in a vivid sparkle, even though her face was all red and blotchy. Funny how crying could do that.

"What?" The blonde sniffed dramatically.

"I don't want to diminish your loss… but life has to go on. Deidara sounds like he was a very brave man. Do you think he'd want you to be paralyzed by fear for his sake? Or would he want you to go forward and do your pilgrimage, and honour your family by becoming the great priestess you can be?" the dark-haired Hyūga suggested.

Ino closed her eyes and hung her head. Sakura let her think for a moment, and then added her own argument. "In all my years at the temple, this is the only time I have ever heard about the death of someone on pilgrimage. Novices sometimes get hurt, yeah; we've all patched up broken bones and healed bruises of people on their tasks. But the gods usually don't give us challenges that kill us." Ino made a face that told Sakura she was about to protest. "No, Ino, I'm not saying anything about Deidara's skill or intelligence, don't worry. I'm sure he was among the greatest, if you're any indication. Maybe the gods wanted him back with them. Maybe he was needed more in their realm than in ours. We live in troubling times."

Ino looked sorrowful, but she no longer looked on the verge of protest. She took a deep breath, and another sip of the tea, which had gone cool. "You know what? You're both right. Deidara would laugh at me for being such a coward. And the gods have reasons for everything. I'm sure wherever he is now, he's looking down on me and probably cursing his foolish little sister for being stuck on his death and not getting on with her own life."

Sakura and Hinata nodded at this.

"I'm going to do it," Ino declared. "I'm going to do my pilgrimage. And I know Deidara's spirit will watch over me, and be proud of me, and protect me. I'm going to start tomorrow." Her resolute tone broke when she mentioned Deidara, but her voice firmed up again before she was finished.

"Ino!" Hinata exclaimed, tone impressed. "I'm glad! You're such a strong shinobi, you can do this."

Sakura nodded. "You know we care about you, Ino. We'll be here for you all the way."

"Except when you're in the jungle." Ino smiled, and there was a twinkle of good humour in her teary eyes. Sakura smiled back.

"Except when we're in the jungle, and don't worry, we'll be fine. _You'll_ be fine," Sakura agreed.

The three girls finished their tea and treats, chatting about far less consequential things, like the medic training classes that were scheduled to start shortly. They gossiped about what was going on in the various wards of the Six Tails' temple. Ino had been in the children's ward, and Hinata had just rotated out of long term care. The Hyūga had a handful of free days before starting her next rotation. Ino was jealous. Sakura thought about the resumption of her punishment duties with resignation. At least she wouldn't be doing triple duty – classes, punishment, and pilgrimage. The pilgrimage took precedent over classes, and she'd already learned ahead to master what the spring class was supposed to teach them anyway.

Finally it got late enough that the three of them decided that they'd better make an attempt to get _some_ sleep. They returned their dishes to the kitchen and made their way back to their cells. The three best friends embraced one more time in the hall; Hinata and Sakura reassuring Ino that she was on the right track and that everything would be ok; before heading to their own beds to sleep.

The next morning dawned bright and warm, exactly the wrong conditions for the _roho_ seeds. Fortunately, they wouldn't be damaged by the weather. They'd just remain dormant. Sakura grabbed the small bag and headed to the kitchens first, intending to go to her punishment duty as soon as she saw to the freezing of the seeds.

"Sakura! I heard you were by last night. Did you girls enjoy your tea and daifuku?" the head chef asked as the teen slipped into the kitchen. The burly, round woman didn't pause in her work; calling out orders to the other chefs and cooks as they rushed to prepare breakfast, reaching over to taste pots and add spices and seasonings, and generally bustling about the large kitchen.

"Thank you Fumiko, we did," Sakura assured her. Nothing ever happened in the kitchen that Fumiko didn't know about. The woman was a skilled gossip, to boot.

"So what brings you to the kitchen? Not punishment duty, I know you're in Intensive Care for that. I hope that kiss was worth it," Fumiko commented. Sakura saw scattered smiles on the faces of the workers, who were listening with one ear, even if they weren't joining in.

Sakura flushed bright pink. It had been a _month_. Apparently it was still a piece of gossip Fumiko cared about. "No, not punishment. I'm on pilgrimage."

"I know, honey. What task are you on now? For the dolphin-horse, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah." Wow, Fumiko's grapevine must be incredible.

"Is that why you're here?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"Well then," Fumiko grinned, pausing briefly to dust flour from her hand and lean on a clear counter. Her black-eyed gaze met Sakura's head on, and the head chef smiled. "How can we help you?"

Sakura gave a smile in return. Gossip she might be, but Fumiko had always been kind to the novices. Although, she worked them hard when they got kitchen duty. Sakura could remember that. "I need to freeze some seeds. To grow a _roho_ tree."

"How big?" Fumiko asked. Sakura held up the small bag. The big woman snorted. "I think we can find room for that in the icebox. How long do you need to freeze it?"

"Three days," Sakura replied.

"So it's not going to grow in my icebox?"

Sakura chuckled. "Oh no, it just needs to freeze for three days. Then I need to soak it in cool water for a few days – water just above freezing temperature. It doesn't have to be here for that."

"Where are you going to get water that temperature? We never have freezing temperatures here, except in iceboxes. You know what? You should go to the Three Tails' temple to that pretty-boy Haku and get him to teach you some ice techniques. I'll freeze your seeds and see that none disturbs them, but he can teach you what you need to know in the three days between," Fumiko suggested.

"Haku?" Sakura wasn't familiar with the name.

"He's an acolyte over at the Three Tails. Comes from somewhere way down south, not even Nine Temples. He fled north with his father, Momochi Zabuza, escaping Akatsuki. The man didn't live; he died of his injuries, but Haku lived. He's a master of water and ice techniques, even though he's but an acolyte. He certainly found the right temple."

"Thanks, Fumiko. I'll go see him this afternoon, after I finish in Intensive Care," she said, feeling a bit lame at the end. Someone chuckled amongst the workers. Fumiko grinned.

"Watch yourself with that boy of the One Tail's. He's trouble."

"Thanks, I think I found that out," Sakura replied drily. Fumiko laughed and strode up to take the bag of seeds.

For once, she was early enough to the refectory that she got the best pickings. The cook who served up her eggs gave her a wink. "Don't worry, Sakura. You'll be 18 soon, and then if you want to kiss that young desert man, you can. Just another year."

Sakura gave him a mortified look. His grin got even wider. Did the whole kitchen do nothing but gossip? They'd been so quiet when she was in there. She muttered an embarrassed 'thank you' when he told her to enjoy her breakfast.

"Hey Forehead, up and at it early aren't you? I guess you couldn't wait to get back into Intensive Care, huh?" Ino slid into the seat across from her. The blonde had a teasing grin. Sakura rolled her eyes and ate some more scrambled egg.

"Had to go freeze the seeds," the pink-haired girl said between bites.

"Makes sense to do it now." Hinata joined the conversation, gracefully sitting beside Sakura. "Why delay, after all?"

"Indeed," Sakura concurred.

"Yeah, why wait. I'm going to the shrine of our god after breakfast to start my tasks," Ino stated.

Both Hinata and Sakura stopped eating long enough to call out enthusiastic encouragements to their friend.

"Starting with the Six Tails?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Ino blushed, "I'm still a little nervous so I thought I'd start with the god I know best."

"There's nothing wrong with that idea," Hinata agreed.

The day was off to a good start, Sakura reflected. Even despite the fact that she had to go to punishment duty.

Yet, Yashamaru himself greeted her when she returned to duty in Intensive Care. "Welcome back. I see the jungle did you no harm, and since your punishment duties have not been increased at all, you did not run afoul of my nephew," the sandy-haired medic who headed the unit said as she walked out of the change room, adjusting the collar of her medic's scrubs.

"Nephew?" Sakura blinked.

"Ah, he didn't tell you, I take it. Gaara's always been a little bit miffed at me for 'abandoning' him in the desert to accept this posting here in Miyajima. I suppose it's no surprise he wouldn't mention he has family here. I was his beloved uncle, right up until the moment I left. Boys are funny at 6 years old. Still, I would have thought he'd forgiven me by now." Yashamaru smiled.

So, Yashamaru was Gaara's uncle? "You don't really look like him…" Sakura commented.

"No, he takes after his father, and my sister Karura, his mother. She died in childbirth with him, but I remember her well. I wish I could have done something to save her, but I had not the skill then. It would be different now." His eyes got distant. Then he seemed to return to himself. "We can't change the past. Well, Sakura. I'm glad to see you back whole. I'm afraid we've got some work for you – there's a bit of a mess in room 22. We lost a patient in the early hours before dawn."

"Who was it?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"Morita Kenji – I don't think you met him. He's a civilian, and was severely injured in a fall while fixing roofing tiles when you were in the jungle. We did all we could. His widow has already been by, and he has been sent to the Seven Tails for funerary preparations."

"I'm sorry to hear it."

"We all are. Don't be surprised if there aren't many familiar names on the door plates. This is Intensive Care. People here have two places to go – a recovery ward or the Seven Tails," he said, morosely. "Go, start in 22."

She nodded in response and headed for the room. All in all, it wasn't in that bad shape. There were no fluids to be cleaned up, at least. Sakura took out the used linens from the bed and wiped down the waterproof mattress with a sterilizing solution. She then used the solution on every surface she could find. Once everything was sterile she brought in clean supplies and restocked all the little things that were present in every room – swabs, gauze, disinfectant and the like; useful thing that all medics liked to have on hand.

It was tedious work but vitally necessary to keeping a unit like this functioning properly. Once she was finished with Room 22, she found the duty list and ticked off the room, and went to the next one. Hopefully there wouldn't be much need for cleanup of fluids. That was the part that Sakura liked the least. That and the fact that while she was doing punishment duty, she never got to actually use her healing skills. It was all maintenance and janitorial work; in fact, she was strictly barred from any real healing in Intensive Care until her punishment was done.

After her 8-hour shift, she would go to the Three Tails' temple and see if she could meet this Haku. Perhaps Fumiko's advice would come in handy, because she had no other knowledge of how she might go about doing this.


	16. Chapter 16

**Well here it is. I hope you enjoy it despite the wait. **

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Chapter 16

"Haku? Yes, I believe that one is available. If you do not mind waiting here, I will go get Haku for you." The priest told her, turning for the temple. Sakura took a seat in one of the benches by the massive statues of the Three Tailed Giant Turtle. The statues in the Miyajima temple complex depicted the god in his aspect of the lord of the calm waters; he was a smooth and graceful leatherback with three wide, curling tails. She'd seen illustrations of one of the statues at the main temple on Kishimoto Island, as lord of the storms. There, he was a fearsome, spiky creature that looked poised to destroy. Kishimoto Island, exposed as it was to the eastern sea, got more foul weather than Miyajima did with its wide, protective harbour and barrier islands.

"You called for me?" a beautiful young woman asked, emerging from the temple door. Sakura stood to greet her.

"Hi, I'm Sakura, from the Six Tails' temple. I'm looking for Haku," the pink-haired girl replied.

"Oh," smiled the girl. "That's me. I'm Haku. Pleased to meet you, Sakura."

Didn't Fumiko say Haku was a boy? But… Sakura looked closer and realized that who she had taken for an exceptionally beautiful girl was really an exceptionally beautiful boy. Haku seemed to be expecting the reaction, for he gave her a slight acknowledging smile, which sent his gorgeous brown eyes twinkling.

"You… must get that a lot, huh?" Sakura said, lamely.

"Every now and then, yes," he acknowledged. "But don't feel too bad about the confusion. I've considered requesting reassignment surgery from your temple, but it's a lengthy process. These things are not undertaken lightly."

Sakura blinked. She had heard about individuals who felt born into the wrong sex, but had never met one. At least, she had never met one as far as she knew. "Um, which pronoun…" she blathered, confusedly.

"Female is fine." Haku smiled winningly. "Most people don't ask. I'm still having trouble with some of the priests here. I appreciate your sensitivity."

"Ah, thank you. Um, that's not why I'm here. I am on pilgrimage for the Five Tails, and I have to germinate a seed that needs to sit in melt-water for several days."

"I see," Haku's smile brightened. "You need a source of melt-water. I can definitely help you with that. I have a bloodline ability with ice, but there are some techniques that I can teach you. Those don't require bloodline limits."

Sakura's heart rose. She smiled back at the other girl. Haku had agreed to teach her. This task was going to work out all right, and everything would be just fine!

"So, I hope you can get your evenings free for the next week," Haku was saying.

Wait a moment, next _week_? The seeds came out of the freezer in three days. Of course, additional freezing shouldn't hurt them and Fumiko would probably have no problems with the little bag occupying freezer space for a little longer. Hinata was most likely correct; _roho_ survived long, cold mountain winters and wouldn't be killed by an extra couple of days being cold. But… it was still a few more days tacked onto a task that already promised to take awhile.

"That should be fine," Sakura said, covering her slight disappointment. Really, in the grand scheme of things, one week wasn't a big deal. The pilgrimage was already taking her longer than she thought it would. She'd started near the end of January, and it was already near the end of March. "When can we start?"

"Today is good, I didn't have anything else planned. If you want, you can join my temple for the evening meal, and then I'll give you your first lesson afterwards," Haku smiled.

"That works," Sakura agreed. "Um… this is a huge favour you're doing me. Is there anything that _I_ can help _you_ with in return?"

"Actually…" Haku trailed off. Sakura looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Your temple makes many medicines and pills. If you are able, could you make me some energy recovery pills? I have been spending my acolyte's stipend on other supplies such as good senbon and a nice kimono," here she blushed, "and recovery pills have had to be put off."

"I can make recovery pills, no problem," Sakura replied cheerfully. She had a good recipe actually… sure they might not taste the best but they were the most functional recovery pills she knew about!

"That would be wonderful, thank you," Haku gave her winning smile again. "Please come with me, if we don't hurry, there will be no food in the refectory."

"It's seriously that way in every temple, I think," Sakura mused aloud, as she let the other girl take her hand and lead her into temple proper.

"Shinobi sure can work up an appetite," Haku agreed.

Whoever had built the temples originally had built them all to a very similar style. However, there were distinct decorating and colour differences; the Six Tails' temple, for instance, was filled with calming greens and purples in much of the public space, and all the wards were colour-coded. The Three Tails emphasized all the colours of the ocean, from clear tropical blue to storm grey. Sakura rather liked it.

The refectories, she was beginning to suspect, were much the same in every temple. Now she had seen two others besides her own. She and Haku joined the food line, where they were greeted by a few of the clergy. Most of them seemed to be interested in finding out who Sakura was. She got asked if she enjoyed sailing several times.

The dinner conversation in the Three Tails' temple involved much discussion of the weather, fishing, sailing, and the condition of the ocean. The food, perhaps unsurprisingly, was fish. Fish featured frequently on the menu in her temple too, but Sakura suspected it was even more frequent in this temple.

"Haku, my darling, what's this you've brought us?" a cheerful female voice asked. Sakura looked up from her food to see a beautiful woman with auburn hair and vivid green eyes. She radiated an aura of power and competence that impressed the young medic. "I've heard of you, girl! What's your name?"

"H-H-Haruno Sakura, my lady," Sakura replied, tacking on the 'my lady' almost automatically. The woman had a presence like Tsunade when the Slug's Princess wanted herself noticed.

"Lady Terumī, I greet you," Haku said formally, looking surprised and a little frightened, like she'd just gotten caught in an error by a particularly strict instructor. Sakura clued into who this was. Terumī Mei, the high priest of the Three Tails. But… didn't she live on Kishimoto Island where the main temple was?

"I greet you, my lady," Sakura echoed. Lady Terumī smiled.

"Well met, young Sakura. So, _you're_ Tsunade's prodigy, the girl Kazehiko's boy has his eye on. I can see why he's hot for you, you're a beautiful girl." The Three Tails' chosen smiled again, and Sakura felt a little bit like she was facing down a hungry shark. Kazehiko's boy? Kazehiko must be the high priest of the One Tail, Gaara's father. The teen _really_ wished she'd studied up a little more on the prominent clergy in the temples outside of Miyajima. She'd heard of Terumī only because the high priestess lived a half-day's sail away.

"Uh…" Sakura managed.

"I think I understand now why they sent him to cool off doing recon in the south. I'm a little miffed, mind you," the older woman gave Sakura a direct look. Sakura gave her a look of wide-eyed bewilderment back. "I was hoping to steal his first kiss. Preferably, on the floor of the council chamber, just so I could fluster him. He's too unflappable, that boy. Too cocky. Kazehiko sent him to observe the council, not to speak out so much."

"Uh…" Sakura's face was turning red, she could feel it burning. This woman was _scary_!

"But I suppose I'll have to be content with the way things are. He'll be high priest for the Tanuki one day, mark my words. Just as you'll head the Six Tails' when old Tsunade finally decides to step down, I'm sure. And then I'll have to keep you both in line by reminding you about how you got caught kissing underage. I love blackmail!"

Not knowing what else to do, Sakura smiled weakly, an expression that was more an appeal for mercy than anything else.

"Oh you poor girl," Terumī Mei smirked predatorily. "I'm glad I met you. I'm going to remember that look for when you're sitting at the big table, trying to get yourself taken seriously." She switched her gaze to the dark-haired youth. "Haku. Are you coming back with me to the main temple?"

"My lady, I will," Haku punctuated her sentence with rapid bows of her head. "But first I must help Sakura with her pilgrimage task, if that is all right with you. It should take a week."

"Pilgrimage…" The high priest of the Three Tails smirked at Sakura. "That's right. Which one are you on, now?"

"Five Tails," Sakura managed.

Terumī smiled. "Doing them in order, too, aren't you. Well, girl, when you're ready to do your task for the Three Tails, you come out to Kishimoto and do it at _my_ temple, you hear me?"

Sakura was, quite frankly, afraid to defy Lady Terumī.

"Haku, you can come out when she does, then. Don't worry about sailing back with me next week. I'll have new lessons for you by the time you make it over the water, be sure. Well, young ones… enjoy your meal." With one last predatory smile, the high priest turned and walked away from their table. The auburn-haired woman stopped and spoke to a few others before making her exit.

"She's scary," Sakura commented.

Haku nodded. "It's said she doesn't stop smiling, even in a pitched battle."

"Scary," Sakura insisted.

"But very skilled. As you heard, I am to go to Kishimoto Island to the temple there. She wants to train me herself."

"It must be a great honour."

"It is. I am, I confess, a little bit scared of her myself. When I first came here she tried to kiss me too, but then she found out that I am woman-souled, and now she treats me like her apprentice. But she is very strong, very powerful. And she says there is no reason for a woman not to learn the combat jutsus of the Three Tails, so she isn't just teaching me weather modifications like some of the other priests. When they found out I was woman-souled, the combat training dried up." Haku looked a little chagrined.

Sakura blinked. The combat training in the Six Tails' temple was universal; or at least, everyone took it until they were advanced enough to start focusing on a specialization. Sakura still continued hers, but mostly with Lee. The Six Tails' combat training was centred around damage avoidance and conservation of chakra, two things that would help keep a medic alive and able to heal in a battle. Sakura had gone further, training in offensive techniques as well as defensive. And Tsunade had trained her in how to enhance her own strength.

"They don't train everyone in combat here?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Everyone receives _some_ training, but it seems most of the girls go into weatherworking once they have the basics. I think at one time it might have been preference, but now it seems to be just the way things are. The combat teachers say they don't want to have to train someone who is just going to quit and play with rain. But I won't quit. I need to be strong. If I was strong, then my father…" she trailed off with a frown and a sigh. "It's in the past, I can't change that."

"I was three when my parents were killed in the last war," Sakura offered.

"You too, huh? That was the combat that we were fleeing, thirteen years ago. I was just a… a boy…" Haku blushed and continued. "I had no training at all, just a bloodline ability I barely knew how to use, from my mother's side. I did what I could. The Three Tails' service has been good to me."

Sakura nodded. For her, the temples amounted to a gift from the gods in themselves. Without the temples, she had no idea what her fate would have been.

"If you're done your food, why don't we go get a work room and I'll show you how to focus your chakra for ice work?" Haku suggested. Sakura nodded again. Chit-chat was nice, and Haku was a girl the pink-haired nin thought she could like a lot, but she wasn't here on a social call.

"Let's."

The two young clergy members returned their dishes and trays, and Haku led her through the corridors of the temple to what seemed to be small classrooms. Unlike the classrooms of the Six Tails, these all contained fountains of flowing water. Sakura guessed that made sense.

"I've no doubt you're very good with chakra control; you need to be in order to be a medic. Ice uses chakra, but not in the way you're used to," Haku began as they sat on large cushions near the fountain.

"How so?" Sakura inquired.

"Most techniques require that you put your chakra _into_ something. Fire, for instance, is fed directly by the user's chakra. Even doing things like stone breaking and super-strength requires chakra infusion. But ice is different. You see, cold is not an energy like heat is; instead it is the absence of heat." Haku took Sakura's hand gently and placed it in the fountain. Sakura could sense the other girl doing something with her chakra, and then the water started to get cooler. She paid close attention to the chakra flows as the other worked.

"I see," Sakura stated. "You're pulling energy out of the water and into yourself."

The dark-haired girl nodded, smiling. "An ice user like myself will have greater chakra endurance than someone who has to put energy into other things, because we replenish our supply as we work. But it is not a perfect system; absorbing the energy and integrating it into your system is tiring too. Because I have a bloodline ability with ice, I absorb and integrate chakra taken from heat energy easier than most, and my skill with it is instant." Haku gestured with the hand that wasn't in the water.

Immediately, the moisture in the air started to fall out in flakes of snow. Their breath came as steam. Sakura took her hand from the cold water and hugged herself for warmth. "Tomorrow I think I'm going to bring warmer clothes," she said. She was dressed for the weather of Miyajima. The city, being so far north and close to the equator, and mediated by the sea, was typically close to the same temperature year round. The only seasonal differences revolved around whether it was rainy or dry. She wasn't used to this kind of cold.

"That might be a good idea," Haku smiled back in return. The snow was already melting, leaving a small puddle of water nearby. "Is it too much for you?"

"I'll survive," Sakura grinned, stroking the goosebumps on her arm to get them to lay flat.

"That's the theory behind ice manipulation. You can technically freeze anything, but water holds more heat energy than anything else in the world. It takes more energy to warm up and you can take more heat out of it, but it will stay cold the longest. I don't know if you'll be making snow by the end of tonight, but I want you to try to take this bowl of water, and draw chakra _in_, instead of pushing it out." Haku dipped a small bowl in the water and filled it, before placing it in front of Sakura. The Three Tails' acolyte stood and went to a small bench of supplies and found something, returning to drop it into the bowl. It was a thermometer. Sakura looked at it for a moment, then began.

Making water cold was harder than the medic-nin had thought it would be. She had been trained all her life to _push_, and now here she was trying to _pull_ on chakra. Finally, she got a thread of it going and pulled it out of the water. But integrating it was another story; she wasn't quite sure how to do it. She lost her concentration, and the thread of chakra went slipping back into the water as though tethered to it.

Haku was clearly trying to stifle her amusement. Sakura sighed.

"Don't worry, Sakura, you're doing it right. It just takes practice."

"I see that." Sakura chewed idly on her bottom lip and tried again. This time she got the small tendril of chakra a little more easily. She had an idea; what if she treated it like healing energy and fed it into her body that way? Chakra was chakra… right? She tried it, pulling chakra with one hand and ushering it into her own body with the other. It was warm! Aaaaand… once again, she lost the thread.

"You had it there, for a moment. The thermometer was going down. It just shot back up."

"Yeah, I kind of got surprised again and lost my hold on the chakra thread."

"Try again."

With a meditative breath, Sakura tried again. This time, she didn't let the warmth from the chakra thread startle her. Instead, she absorbed the heat, a small part of her noting that the hairs standing on her exposed arms were finally beginning to go down. There were benefits to this work, she realized.

"Good work, it's getting much colder in that water," Haku encouraged her.

Sakura nodded absently. This wasn't easy, but she was managing it. She was beginning to understand Haku's comments about integrating the chakra – she was pulling it out and stuffing it into herself, but it wasn't going in so easily anymore. And now she was breaking out a sweat, whether from the effort or the warmth, she didn't know. She suspected it was the effort, because really, could there be _that _much warmth in that bowl of water?

The medic-nin didn't manage to freeze the bowl of water that night – Haku decided it was enough training when Sakura dropped the temperature to 4 degrees – the point at which water was at its most dense. "It's harder to drop the temperature after that point. You'll have more opportunity to practice tomorrow, when you've had a chance to rest and eat," Haku told her.

Sakura nodded, realizing that it was getting late. She still had a full day of punishment duty ahead of her tomorrow. "Thank you, Haku," she stated, with feeling.

"You're quite welcome!" Haku smiled back, as the two girls walked to the temple foyer. Haku gave Sakura a small wave as the pink-haired girl left for her own temple. Sakura waved back cheerfully.

Stretched out on her narrow novice's bed with her hands folded behind her head, she considered the day. She'd got a lot done, and this work with ice ought to be useful for more than just the task. Even the punishment duty today hadn't been that bad after that first room.

There was only one thing marring the day, and Sakura was somewhat chagrined to admit it to herself; she missed Gaara. He must still be out on his mission, for she felt sure that she would have encountered him if he was back at the temple complex. She hoped he was alright. Maybe he would be back soon, and they could spend some time talking or maybe spar… considering the last time, maybe sparring wasn't a good idea. Ok, Sakura, don't think about that spar, or that kiss, right before bed. You'll have dreams…

"_You're certain it's safe to use this technique to communicate?"_ This time Sakura was instantly aware that she was once more dreaming of One and Two.

"_As certain as any of us can be when we're in this state. You know how it is. I detected no trace of our enemies; if we had a listener at all it wasn't a hostile one. Probably just someone randomly stumbling upon us, you know it happens. They wake up and usually forget all about it."_ One sounded fairly confident, and somewhat dismissive.

"_Yeah. I'll believe you, _you're_ the paranoid one usually."_ Two laughed. _"When are you back?"_

One sighed. _"It shouldn't be too long now. We're in the bush right now, but we've found out what we need to know and now we'll be leaving. So slow, to travel this way. It would be much faster if we could fly."_

Two just laughed.

A soft touch on her arm had her jerking in a panic, but it was only Hinata. The other girl's pearly eyes gazed into her own.

"_Sakura?"_ Hinata mouthed.

"_Yeah, it's me,"_ Sakura replied.

"_Is this a dream?"_ Despite her recent emboldening, Hinata looked slightly worried.

"_I think it's a communication jutsu of some sort. One that uses dreams as a medium."_ The pink-haired medic was fairly certain about that now. This was the third time, and like the last time, she was much more lucid than during the first.

"_Who are these people?"_ Hinata wondered.

"_I don't know, but I think they're on the side of the Nine Temples."_

"_I think you're right – wait, I think they're saying something important!"_ Hinata covered her mouth and blushed.

"—_And then we discovered signs of not only Akatsuki infiltration but a group large enough to be a raiding party. It was on their side of the border but mark my words, they're coming here. I don't think it'll be open warfare yet, I think we have at least another year before that point. But there's going to be skirmishes and kidnappings. We know they have at least one apostate informing them of our strategic weaknesses. The information may be old but it's still usable, unfortunately,"_ One grumbled.

"_Hey, it's not your fault. You're doing the best you can. So what if they won't listen to you? They're going to have to acknowledge that you're right sooner or later,"_ Two piped up.

"_By the time they get around to it, it'll be too late. Being able to say 'I told you so' isn't worth risking the destruction of our way of life and our own death,"_ One's voice cut acidly.

Sakura could almost hear Two's shrug. _"It'll work out. Things will turn around. We'll be lucky. Don't you worry, I'm always lucky."_

"I'm_ not,"_ One pointed out.

"_I've got some you can have. Just trust me!"_ Two's cheerfulness was infective.

"_I suppose I'll have to, won't I? You crazy fox."_

Again, Two just laughed.

Whoever they were, they were from the Nine Temples country. 'Crazy fox' was a favoured affectionate epithet for anyone who seemed blessed with the Nine-Tails' own luck, especially if they were lucky to the point of continually escaping situations that should go poorly for them. With that utterance, Sakura knew with a certainty that these two talkers were on their side. She wondered if there was a way to help them, or if it was worth letting them know that she and Hinata were listening in (as unintended as that was). Or would that just land both of the girls in hot water?

She was _so_ curious about who these two were. She wondered if there was some way she could see them. Carefully, she inched her way along the white, featureless 'wall' she was pressed against. Was there a corner somewhere she could peer around? She brushed away Hinata's frantic tugging on her sleeve. She was getting close, she knew it! Just a few more centimetres and she'd see—

_Thump!_

With a startled squawk, Sakura thrashed in her bedding, which was on her floor… as was she. She managed to get herself untangled and get her bearings. Somehow, in trying to peer around the wall in the dream, she had rolled herself right out of bed! With muttered curses for both the lost sleep and the lost opportunity to _find something out_, she got out of her blankets and remade her bed. It was still the middle of the night, and she should go back to sleep. Bed now in proper array, she climbed back between the sheets and settled down for her second attempt at sleep for the night.


	17. Chapter 17

**This has got to be one of my favourite chapters, for a lot of reasons. I hope you like it as much as I do. **

**I'm going for a surgery next week and I don't know how long recovery will be. I'll try to post on schedule the Wednesday after, but please try to understand if I am unable.  
**

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Chapter 17

The next two weeks passed in an exhausting blur for Sakura. Days were spent in the IC ward, doing her punishment duty. Evenings were spent at the Three Tails' temple, learning from Haku. After the first week, she had learned enough about ice from the water nin to be able to manage her task. After that, she prepared recovery pills and brought them to the other girl as a thank you for her lessons. The _roho_ seeds sat in their bed of loam on top of her ungainly iceblock and waited.

As the days ticked by with still no sign of Gaara, Sakura grew more and more worried. She recalled with a bit of shame her desire to get out of the city without running into him, back when she left for the jungle on the Six Tails' task. Now, with him gone so long on a dangerous mission, it seemed small-minded and mean spirited. She hadn't seen him since that day on the practice fields, since that glorious kiss that had gotten her 30 days of punishment duty. What if he'd been hurt or killed? What if she'd given up her last chance to see him so she could sneak out and avoid more punishment? If he'd been hurt, she'd gladly trade a _year_ of punishment duty just to have him back safe and sound.

Ino and Hinata were both out of town; for Ino's first task, the Six Tails sent her to a village 50 km to the south along the coast, where they'd had an outbreak of red sand fever. Ino had gone to vaccinate the entire village against the algae-borne disease. Hinata had been sent into the jungle for the first time, in order to find another mystery animal for the Seven Tails. Sakura missed them both.

Two weeks passed from the day she got home from the jungle, and Sakura spent those days in IC and waiting for that darn seed to sprout. Then, one morning, she arrived in IC to Yashamaru's questioning look and his instructions to go see Tsunade. Wondering if it was bad news, Sakura headed for her mentor's door. Had something happened to Ino or Hinata? Had Gaara been found dead? Why would Tsunade summon her?

"Enter," the older woman's voice came as the teen came to a halt right outside her door. It was uncanny, the way Tsunade always did that. "Ah, Sakura. You've endured your punishment without complaint and the feedback I've gotten from Yashamaru has been very positive. I'm giving you today off; you've earned it."

Sakura stared at Tsunade. "Then everyone is alright?" she blurted.

Tsunade looked at her like she'd gone crazy. "What are you talking about, girl? Oh, right, you have friends on pilgrimage, don't you. No, there's been no bad news, don't you worry." Something crossed Tsunade's face and the old woman snickered. "Sakura! Don't tell me you've forgotten what day it is?"

"Thursday?" Sakura asked, feeling kind of confused.

"I don't believe it. I think I was in my seventies before I finally forgot mine, hah. You're too young for that," Tsunade smirked.

"What?"

"It's your _birthday_, silly girl! You're seventeen today. Happy birthday!" Tsunade beamed.

Sakura glanced at the calendar in surprise. Sure enough, it was the 28th of March. How could that much time have gone by that quickly? How could she have forgotten her own _birthday_? "Please don't tell Ino, I'll never live it down," she groaned, slapping her own forehead with her palm. Tsunade chuckled knowingly.

"Don't worry, girl, I'm not going to spread it around. You've been doing so well, Sakura, enduring your punishment without a single word of complaint and not shirking your pilgrimage… Here," Tsunade held up a small bag of coins, "take this. It's more than your usual stipend but I wanted to give you a birthday gift. Go down into the city, eat something fried from the stalls, and buy yourself something nice to wear." Floored, Sakura accepted it.

"Th-thank you, Lady Tsunade!" the teen managed.

"Go on, go have some fun!" Tsunade made a shooing motion with her hands. "Tomorrow you can go back to Intensive Care and work your butt off. Today is _your_ day."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Sakura repeated, bowing twice before Tsunade managed to wave her out of the office.

A day off… how unexpected. Well, the _roho_ seeds had nothing to do but sit in their drying dirt, and watching them would be about as interesting as, well, watching grass grow, only maybe less so. Sakura decided she would take Tsunade's advice and go into the city. It would get her mind off her worry for her friends, who were no doubt doing just fine. They were all perfectly able to take care of themselves, just like she was.

The city was buzzing with excitement, and it didn't take Sakura long to figure out why. It seemed there was some kind of circus in town. It was something she might actually like to see, to tell the truth. The last time she had been to a circus was when she was 8. They came to Miyajima about once a year, but for so many years she had been too busy with her studies to go and see the acts.

Even at 17, she wasn't so old that she couldn't enjoy a circus. This one had a number of interesting things. There were jugglers and acrobats, which might not have impressed her (she'd seen more spectacular tricks from shinobi, after all), had she not been aware that they were not using chakra to do their act. There were clowns with multicoloured hair and hilarious pranks. And, there were all _kinds_ of rare animals from far off places.

She saw lions and tigers, brought all the way from across the sea on the other side of the world. They were far larger than the jaguars she had encountered in the jungle, but far less scary with solid metal bars between her and them. Besides, these looked so tame, yawning and switching their tails idly as they lay in the sun. One circus performer had several trained monkeys dressed in bright clothes; he got them to act out little pantomimes that made her laugh.

She found a circus vendor who boasted a strange machine that made ice without using chakra, and bought one of his cones of shaved ice drizzled in mango syrup. Her mood was as bright as the sun shining on the city as she wandered towards the tent that held the fabled oliphant, said to be the largest creature to walk the land.

"Sakura!" A familiar voice caught her ear, and she turned to catch a flash of gold in the crowd, coming towards her rapidly.

"Naruto?"

"Hey, what are you doing here? Did you get the day off from your tasks?" the blond called out as he approached her. Once he got within conversational distance, he gave her a great big grin, and Sakura couldn't help smiling back.

"Uh, yeah, I'm supposed to be in Intensive Care for another 11 days, but they gave me today off because it's my birthday."

Naruto did a double take. "Your birthday? That's even better than just a day off! Happy birthday, Sakura! I'm sorry, I don't have anything to give you…"

"That's ok," she grinned back. "So, did you get the day off too?"

"Well, actually…" Naruto trailed off, blue eyes rolling upwards evasively. He rubbed the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed, and grinned widely. "Actually, I'm here on a task. For the Five Tails. But I'm sure he won't mind if I enjoy the circus just a little while I'm at it, what do you think?"

Sakura quirked a brow. "I'm no expert on the Five Tails," she replied.

"He's got a sense of humour, that one. Not as bad as the Cat, but man…" Naruto muttered.

"I'm doing my task for him too, right now. I'm just waiting for the seedling to sprout," Sakura said. "What's your task?"

"Ahahaha…" Naruto forced a weak laugh, before muttering, nearly inaudible, "_I am never going to live this down…_"

"Is it seriously that bad?"

"I have to collect some… fertilizer." Naruto's grin was fixed, his eyes squinting shut from the forced cheer.

"Fertilizer, that's not so bad," Sakura commented.

"…_From the oliphant…_" Naruto muttered, still with that big fake smile.

Sakura clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the unladylike snort of hilarity that rose at Naruto's confession. The blond was red-cheeked and clearly feeling humiliated. "I guess you've come to the right place," she pointed out, managing to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"Yep, well, this fertilizer isn't going to collect itself," Naruto said, pulling a folded cloth sack from one of his pouches. She'd seen the sort before; it was a very finely-woven silk bag, good for carrying things like sand and dirt, or… fertilizer… and it had the added bonus of folding up very small.

"I want to see the oliphant too. I've never seen one before. I'll come with you, run interference." Sakura suggested.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck again. "I guess, but… if you ever tell anyone…"

Sakura laughed. "Don't worry!"

The two of them stood in the line to enter the oliphant's tent; Sakura waiting with excitement and Naruto with barely restrained anxiety. He kept looking around, trying to spot anyone familiar to ensure that no one saw him. Finally they made their way to the entrance, paid their fee, and got in.

The oliphant was as large as the tales said. Both Sakura and Naruto stared at it in awe for several long moments. It was amazing! It had wrinkled gray skin and huge ears, and a very long nose that it used as adeptly as a hand. Its small black eyes shone with intelligence and gentle humour, and it kept playing with its trainer's hair between tricks. At the trainer's command, it stood on its hind legs, squirted water out of its trunk, selected a ball with a striped pattern among balls with stars and dots, and counted to ten with its trumpets. Both teens were fascinated, as were the others in the crowd.

When the routine was done, Naruto nudged Sakura in the ribs. "_Distract him while I grab the poo,_" he whispered. She nodded and walked forward to the trainer, who was sweeping up stray pieces of straw while people filed out of the tent.

"Excuse me, sir," she began. The trainer looked up from his work, and gave her a congenial smile.

"Yes, miss?"

"What does he eat, to get so big?" She hadn't really thought ahead of what she would ask to stall for time, so she would play it by ear and ask the obvious questions.

"Do you see all the hay around?" the trainer asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Well, _she_ eats mostly hay, and I give her other fruits and vegetables to make sure she has a balanced diet. She eats about 150 kilos of food a day."

Genuinely impressed, Sakura gaped. "That must make a lot of… fertilizer!" she exclaimed.

The trainer nodded. "It sure does. And she drinks about 200 litres of water. They're amazing creatures, though. So intelligent. They recognize their own reflections in the mirror, you know… Most other animals—hey, kid, what do you think you're doing?"

Oh crap! He spotted Naruto!

"Kid, get away from the oliphant's food or I'll… what the—," the man skidded to a halt, Sakura hot on his heels, just as Naruto finished stuffing his sack full of oliphant dung. The blond flashed a grin at them both, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. A hay bale bounced gently where he had been standing.

"What are you doing with that poo! Get back here, kid! This city is crazy!" shouted the keeper, looking around frantically. He started to search the tent, and Sakura, barely able to contain her laughter, slipped out. She was just in time to see Naruto disappearing over a rooftop, huge bag of dung slung over his shoulder. She lost it then, laughing until her sides ached.

She spent another hour or so at the circus before deciding she should go do as Tsunade suggested and get herself something nice. She got lunch from a street vendor and then whiled away the afternoon in the clothiers' district, looking at kimonos. It would have been way more fun with Ino and Hinata there with her, but both girls were out doing pilgrimage duties. Duty before pleasure… oh well.

She found a red silk kimono with branches laden with cherry blossoms stitched on in white thread. So what if it was playing up the 'sakura' angle a bit too much? It looked good on her. With her purchase wrapped carefully and held under her arm, she wandered through the city. By the time the sun was going down, her belly was telling her it was about time for food. She let her feet take her where they would, and was slightly surprised when she stood in front of Matsuki's. She and Gaara had eaten here, that night when they got the geddys leaf. Her lips curled in a smile of remembrance, and she walked in.

The food was delicious, but it just wasn't the same without Gaara. Somehow, she got the same booth where she had sat with him the last time. It seemed huge without his energy and aliveness. And it was lonely, dining by herself. Sakura had done it once or twice before in the city, but it would have been more fun with friends. She did her best to enjoy her yakiniku without them, but when the meal was over and paid for, she walked back to the temple with a slightly heavy heart.

Which was ridiculous, she told herself. She was doing fine, it was her birthday, she got to see an oliphant and got to see Naruto running off with a big bag of dung… Her mouth quirked in a smile at that one. But she still felt a bit blue, a bit lonely. Maybe it was chemical; the jutsu kunoichi used to keep from dealing with the inconvenience of menstruation and ovulation didn't entirely stop the hormone fluctuations. Or maybe it was just because it was her birthday and all her friends were somewhere else. And tomorrow would be just another day, spent in Intensive Care mopping up spills and stuffing cotton balls in half-empty jars.

She finished off the evening in the library, working her way through an ancient tome about medical chakra uses. After reading for a few hours, she finally closed the dusty old book with a snap, stood and stretched, and headed to bed. She spent a little bit more time feeling lonely and somewhat sorry for herself before she started to drift off to sleep.

The change in air pressure in her cell as her door swung open brought her out of that almost-asleep stage. She lay very still, hand creeping surreptitiously beneath her pillow for the kunai she kept stashed there. As soon as she had it, she launched at her attacker.

A hand closed around her wrist just as she was about to strike. Another hand got her other wrist. She tried a kick but her assailant dodged. "I missed you too, Cherry Blossom," remarked a familiar voice.

"Gaara!" she exclaimed, dropping the kunai abruptly as her eyes went wide in the darkness. She twisted her wrists free and tackled him in a hug, face pressed against his flak jacket, forgetting entirely the fact that she was clothed only in a simple linen night-shift. Forgetting also her anger with him, more than a month old, for landing her punishment duty. "You're back! Where did you go? Are you alright? How did you get in here?" Her comments and questions were a rapid-fire stream which got a little harder in tone with each sentence.

"Whoa, slow down. Yeah, I'm back. I had a mission on the border, and I'm ok. As for how I got in here, I snuck in, of course. I'm a shinobi." There was a clear smirk there in his tone, though she couldn't see it on his face in the darkness. She knew it was there all the same.

"I'm a shinobi too, and you don't see me sneaking into _your_ cell in the middle of the night!" she hissed back. They were talking low; the walls of her cell were stone, but getting caught like this would _definitely_ cause repercussions for them both.

"You could if you wanted to, I wouldn't complain," he cockily assured her. She slugged him in the stomach and he grunted. She didn't do it _hard_, and there was no chakra behind it – she didn't want to _kill_ him after all – but it was enough for him to feel it.

He wheezed. "Ow. Ok, I probably deserved that," he wheezed, dryly. It was rather unlike him to admit anything like that.

"You did…" Sakura agreed. "Are you sure you're alright?" That uncharacteristic comment was just so… uncharacteristic. Not even thinking about the impropriety, she ushered him deeper into her room and sat him down on her bed. It wasn't hard for a lightweight, short girl with super strength. He didn't resist. She sat beside him, folding her hands in her lap.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I wasn't hurt on the mission. There were a few skirmishes but my sand protected me very well. Our tracker, Kiba, received a minor wound to his shoulder, and his dog got his front paw broke, but they were treated in Arakawa at the temple of the Six Tails there, so they're fine. Our mission leader, Kurenai, got away just with some bruises and cuts. No one was seriously injured."

"What happened?" It was more of a demand than a question. What was he doing getting into that kind of fight?

"Well, the situation on the border is worse than I thought," he said. "Akatsuki isn't just making probes now; they're actively running missions and kidnappings on our territory. Things are bad. I think there'll be war in earnest within a year, if not sooner." His words echoed those of the mystery dream speakers. Were things really that bad?

"You fought Akatsuki?"

"Three times. The first two were just three-man scouting parties like ours; no trouble for us to take down. But the third was a hard fight. We were up against superior numbers and there was a shinobi in that group that had some eye ability that saw right through Kurenai's genjutsu. She made the decision to retreat and we got out of there. We're lucky we got out with as little damage as we did."

"Keep telling me." There was something he wasn't saying to her. She could tell that in his tone.

"That shinobi with the eyes, he was more skilled than I thought. If it wasn't for the sand…" Gaara trailed off, before starting again. "If it wasn't for the sand I'd probably be dead right now." His voice was odd, that of a young man faced suddenly with his own mortality. Sakura had heard it before in other young men who had been gravely injured or sick. It was sobering to discover that one was not, indeed, invincible.

"But you're ok, you didn't get hurt. Your sand protected you," Sakura prompted him.

"Yeah, it did. Damnit, it's not supposed to be this way! We should be crushing the Akatsuki, taking the offensive. No one ever won a defensive war. I shouldn't be running from psychopathic enemy nins. I shouldn't even break a sweat with guys like that! Nothing is turning out the way it's supposed to." Those last words carried a bitterness that surprised her. She could feel the tension radiating off him.

Sakura reached out and followed his arm, curling her hand into his own in the darkness. His hands squeezed hers briefly. "That's life, though, Gaara. Nothing ever works out as planned. Even the gods can't force the world to do what they want it to. You know that."

"Do I ever," he chuckled darkly.

"You're still alive and that's what matters. And you're home safe." That was all she really cared about, that he was home and he was safe. Akatsuki might be threatening a war and no doubt if it came to that she'd be fighting in it, but now was now and now was _safe_. In the darkness, she turned to him; and with some impulse she didn't fully think through, she put her arms around him, pulled him down to her level, and kissed him.

Their clothing shuffled softly as Gaara moved, shifting to put his arms around her in turn. It started chaste, just a touching of lips, but hers parted almost as if by instinct and his opened too. His tongue pressed against her teeth and the next thing she knew, they were kissing deeply. Tingling jolts of heat spread through Sakura as his hand tentatively brushed her jaw and neck. Those jolts turned into thrums which had her gasping inadvertently when his touch slid lower over her breast. The linen shift served only to intensify the feeling of being touched. Her blood rushed dizzyingly and her thoughts turned to vapour. All she knew was that it felt so good to be touched.

Somehow she'd managed to get all of the many buckles of his flak jacket undone and he stopped his caresses long enough to shrug out of it. His long jacket was next, sliding off him like water. Weak from the desire pouring through her, she didn't realize that she was leaning backwards until she was on her back and he was spread out partially on top of her. She could feel the heat of his body through the thin linen and the mesh of his shirt.

Their kiss still hadn't broken. Suddenly, she needed air desperately. Gasping, she freed her mouth from his. Gaara groaned and pressed his body against her, pressing kisses beside her ear. His breath on her skin was almost as delicious as his touch. One hand wandered lower, sliding down her hips lovingly, while the other tangled in her hair and tilted her head so he could regain her mouth.

His skin under the mesh shirt was smooth and soft; and to Sakura it felt far warmer than her own. His hand likewise felt hot as it pushed aside the hem of her nightie and slid up her thigh. At his firm, sensual touch, Sakura abruptly came to her senses. She was in her bed, with Gaara, and they were both already half undressed. As good as this felt, she knew she wasn't ready. She was still underage, and a part of her couldn't reconcile her drive to duty and her drive to lust _both_. It was like running into a brick wall; just as abrupt and rather unexpected.

"Ssssstop!" Sakura hissed suddenly, curling her body away from him. Gaara froze. For a moment the only sound in the cell was their heavy breathing as they got control of themselves. "I'm sorry, Gaara, but I just c-c-can't…"

"Shh, it's ok," he murmured, removing his hand from her thigh. He didn't get up, instead he wrapped himself around her comfortingly. The hand in her hair stroked her soothingly and his touch was transformed from sensual to calming. "I'm sorry, I know you don't want to take this further. I got carried away." He sounded slightly chagrined.

"We both did," she admitted sheepishly. She couldn't deny that she wanted him; nay, burned for him. But she also couldn't deny the conviction that to lose her virginity to him, right now, would be _wrong,_ and it blocked her as solidly as a mountain in her path.

He sighed. "I should go."

"Probably," she agreed, though she couldn't quite bring herself to remove her arms from where they were currently wrapped around him. As the urgency of lust faded, she didn't want him to let go of her either. This was comfortable. He was still warm and curiously soft-yet-hard with smooth skin and wiry muscle, and it felt good to be held. But… every second they delayed was another chance that someone would sense something amiss and catch them both. Or that she'd lose her common sense and… her thoughts veered sharply away.

She unwrapped herself gently from him, and he leaned on his side. He gave her one last, close hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Sakura. Sleep well."

"Take care, Gaara. I'm glad you got home safe."

"Me too." He got up from the bed and went for the door.

"Gaara! Your jackets!" she gasped, and he muttered a mild curse before fumbling with the coverings on the floor. Whether he got them on or not, she didn't know, because just a few seconds later he'd made it out the door.

Extremely tired, Sakura closed her eyes and slid into dreams like she'd _never_ before experienced.


	18. Chapter 18

**So guess what? I reported to the hospital for my surgery, got into the stupid little cloth sheet they give you, and sat on my cold little hospital bed. I got prepped for surgery - they gave me Heparin and some anti nausea medications for the anesthetic. They attempted to get an IV into me twice and failed (that sucks, let me tell you). And then I waited. And waited. And waited... and finally they told me there'd been an emergency in the OR with the woman before me, and I was getting bumped to May 10. So the surgery was postponed, after I wasted a day and got poked and prodded and given strange medicine.**

**But guess what? There's a silver lining! I'm posting this chapter, a day late, but still posting this week. The next chapter will fall right after my surgery (for real this time... PLEASE!), and I'm not done the chapter yet, so I'd better bust my butt. Finding time to write has gotten harder and harder these days. **

**Enjoy 18. It's not the blockbuster 17 was but it's fun enough.**

* * *

Chapter 18

Sakura awoke, groggy from a sleep that wasn't entirely restful. Sitting up, she pushed her disarrayed hair from her eyes and rubbed them sleepily. What a night! She realized that she hadn't even gotten the opportunity to chew Gaara out for getting her punishment duty at all; she'd just been so happy he was back and relieved he was unharmed.

She sighed, getting out of the bed and donning her terry robe for a trip to the showers. Under the steaming water, she once more reviewed her feelings for Gaara. She cared for him deeply, and felt an attraction for him that was entirely outside of logic or rationality, her two constant companions through most of her life. Love at first sight was ridiculous; but then again, it hadn't exactly been love at first sight either. It had been nascent attraction that had just gotten more and more powerful every time she saw him, like someone pouring oil on a fire. And she couldn't deny that she had wanted to see him, and that every day since she had returned from the jungle she had spent at least some time wondering if he would be back soon.

But, what about him? What were Gaara's feelings towards her? He was somewhat possessive of her, as he'd demonstrated in his interactions with potential rivals like Lee. And he obviously wanted her. But was it just some physical attraction, or was there more to it? Last night, before they had… gotten sidetracked… he'd let his guard down totally in her presence. He'd revealed his own vulnerabilities and discussed his own perceived inadequacies, without apparent fear of her judgement. Either he didn't care what she thought of him, or he trusted her enough to let the walls down in private. She suspected it was the latter. That argued for some kind of feeling, right?

Back in her room, she noticed something she hadn't spotted on her way to the shower, having been too groggy. A small package was at the foot of her bed. She picked it up, and scanned the note attached to it, which was dated the day before.

_Sakura,_

_I heard from Naruto that today is your birthday. Please accept this gift, I found it in the Arakawa Trade District and thought you might like it._

_ -Gaara_

He must have left it last night, sometime between when he came in and when he left, scrambling after his shed clothing. She smiled at the carefully-formed characters. She liked how he wrote his name, despite the fact that the kanji depicted violence. But then again, he was from the One Tail's temple. Maybe a violent name wasn't that surprising.

She opened the package, careful not to tear the decorative paper. Inside the small box, she discovered a jade bangle. It was a pale milky green jade that reminded her at once of the colour of his eyes in certain lights. Smiling, she slipped it on her wrist. Charms like these were said to be very lucky. The cool stone felt nice against her skin. Well, he obviously liked her enough to buy her a gift, even _before_ he knew she was having her birthday. It would have been at least two weeks ago that he would have been in Arakawa, unless they were travelling with haste back to the capital.

She dressed quickly, preparing for another long day in the ICU. Before she slipped from her room, she glanced at the tray of dirt, now dry and fully thawed. Then she did a double-take and let loose a whooping cheer.

"One sprouted!" she cried, jumping up and down in her excitement. She dropped to her knees and examined the small shoot of green pushing from the dirt. Yes, it certainly did look like what she remembered the god showing her. It was still tiny; too small and fragile to withstand transplanting. But she'd sprouted one, by the gods! In another week the small plant should be ready to be given to the Five Tails, and then she could begin the task for the Four Tails! She was making _progress_!

The day passed quickly, possibly because she was in such a good mood. Yashamaru commented on her bangle when he noticed it, which had her blushing. Of course, he then naturally jumped to the (correct) conclusion that it had been given to her by Gaara.

"So he's back, is he?" Gaara's uncle had commented mildly. Sakura gave him an embarrassed nod.

The older man apparently took mercy on her, and didn't tease her further. He merely smiled slightly and said, "It's about time. I was worried that he'd stay angry at people all his life."

What did that mean? Angry at people? He had a temper, she suspected, though it was directed more at those he perceived as stupid and stubborn than at people in general. Yashamaru's comment really made her think. Who was Gaara? She really didn't know all that much about him, to be honest. She knew he was from the desert, and that he was the son of the high priest of the One Tail. She knew he was powerful, and driven; with a measure of (possibly deserved) pride and even arrogance. She knew he was dedicated to the gods and to the country of the Nine Temples, and that he was personally very invested in the continued survival of its culture and way of life. And she knew he was intent on her, for whatever reason.

But today was a busy day in Intensive Care, with four transfers from the emergency room, and Sakura was kept too busy to dwell on it. She worked her ass off; cleaning, restocking, fetching, and running errands for the medics on duty. By the time the day was over she was pooped. She ate her supper alone in the refectory and went straight to bed; making up for the exhausting day and the lack of sleep the night before.

The next day seemed likely to be a repeat of the day before. Intensive Care was once more busier than normal, and she was worked off her feet once again. She had another lonely meal in the refectory, which she spent wondering how Ino and Hinata were doing on their tasks, and whether Hinata would be back soon. Sakura hoped her friends were all right. She decided to go spend some time at the library to get her mind off her friends.

It was a good decision. Curling up in the Six Tails' temple's comfortable library chairs with a thick book on psychology was a great way to occupy her evening hours. But it didn't last long.

"Haruno Sakura?" An acolyte that Sakura wasn't familiar with stuck his head into her nook in the library. "There you are. Someone is in the main hall, asking for you."

"Asking for me?" Sakura repeated, confused. She usually didn't have visitors. Unless, it was someone with news about Ino or Hinata… but then wouldn't she be sent to Tsunade's office? She put down her book and stood. "I guess I'd better go find out what this person wants."

She walked with the other acolyte; a handsome young man a few years older than herself, with long silver hair tied in a pony tail, and glasses. "Are you new in the Miyajima temple?" she asked as they walked.

"Yes, I'm only recently arrived, from up north in Port Watanabe and the temple there," he flashed her a charming smile. She smiled back. This young man seemed like a nice person.

"Well, you already know my name, I guess; Haruno Sakura. What should I call you by?"

"Yakushi Kabuto, and I'm very pleased to meet you," he replied.

"Likewise, Kabuto!" she grinned back. And then, she spotted the person sitting on one of the many stone benches, waiting for her. "Gaara?"

He was facing away, and at her call he turned his head to look towards her. She blinked, and something inside her fumed. What was he doing here? He'd already proved last night that he didn't need to ask to see her; he could just sneak in. Was he trying to advertise the fact that he was interested in her to the whole temple, and get her into further trouble?

"Well, I guess my work here is done," Kabuto remarked.

"Thanks, Kabuto," she said, almost perfunctorily. She turned and gave him a slight smile and a small bow, which he returned before leaving back the way they came.

Gaara was rising from the stone bench as she walked towards him. His pale eyes were fixed on her; a glimmer of welcome sparkling in them, even though his mouth was held neutrally. He pushed a lock of his shaggy red hair out of his eyes.

"Sakura," he said.

"Gaara, what are you doing here?" she demanded. Being seen together in the open wasn't going to help the rumours any. And being in his presence was dangerous; they'd already proved that several times.

"I can visit the Six Tails' temple if I want to," he retorted, in mock affront.

"Are you here to make an offering to the Slug of Healing?" she asked through teeth gritted in a smile. It wasn't what he was expecting, clearly.

"Uhh."

"Do you need to be shown the way to the shrine?"

"No, Sakura, I wanted to ask if you wanted to spar," he said firmly, meeting her eyes square on. Apparently he was tired of beating around the bush.

"Spar?" she snorted. "I'm sure the son of the head priest of the Battle God doesn't need to practice with a medic. Or hadn't you heard? We're combat-averse." He looked away when she mentioned his father, a slight reddening of his cheeks betraying that her comment had an effect.

"That's a crock of shit." Well, _that_ was putting it bluntly. "I've sparred with you, and I know that you'd give most other acolytes of any given temple a run for their money. And even a medic could benefit from practice."

He had a point. Apparently she wasn't quick enough to refute it. He took her sleeve, fingers brushing against the bangle she still wore. Their eyes met, hers flickering with uncertainty, his with an amused glint.

"Come on," he said.

"But it's after the meal hour! It's pitch black out there."

"You can brush up on your night manoeuvres. Come on."

She resisted no further, allowing herself to be drawn into the temple courtyard, and then following him over the rooftops and stone walls to the practice grounds. They faced each other across the sand. Under the light of the moons he was lit with silver and shadow, and all she could make out of his face were dark spots where his eyes and mouth were.

"Taijutsu and kunai only, ok? No chakra for either of us tonight," he called out.

"Yeah." She didn't care. Taijutsu would give her a fighting chance, at least, though she'd miss her strength boost.

He made the first move, running across the sand. She saw when the kunai reached his hand, the moonlight making the black iron bright. Sakura had one in each hand herself as she started circling, not wanting to meet him head on.

Kunai are even harder to spot in the darkness, but some ninja sense that had been honed with years and practice had her raising her left hand. Something went *_tink_* against it; she'd successfully parried the knife. Her right hand launched the other towards where he would be in a moment. She scooped up the one he threw from where it sat, dark upon the white sand, in one fluid motion, and continued running.

It was exhilarating, to be truthful; she _hadn't_ had much practice with night fighting, and there was a challenge to this that was satisfying. With taijutsu and kunai only, she felt that she was on equal ground with Gaara, or at the very least, more equal ground than she would be if he could use chakra. She didn't kid herself about the power difference between them, or about the fact that Gaara had greater combat expertise. She'd never fought another human being outside of a spar and arena matches.

In the darkness, attack and defence largely came down to her shinobi instincts. The key was letting them take over. She heard the metal-on-metal clink-clink as Gaara deflected two of her flung kunai, and then she hit the sand and rolled back onto her feet to avoid his riposte. The feel of air passing over her skin had her twisting as she rose, avoiding his palm-strike. In the same movement, she grabbed his wrist and moved into a quick hold, pulling him up and over herself. He anticipated it, and managed to get his wrist free, landing on his own two feet on the sand behind her.

Sakura whirled again, arms moving to block his fists and slide them harmlessly away as she turned. She flipped backwards, from hands, to feet, to hands, and to her feet again, getting some distance between them. With each half-flip she let another kunai fly.

And then her hand didn't land where she expected it to. There was a dip in the sand that she hadn't seen because of the lack of contrast in the darkness. She had a split second to realize something was wrong and attempt a partial recovery. She collapsed the arm in the unexpected dip to avoid damaging her wrist, and came down slightly less gently than she intended on her shoulder. She rolled onto her back with an explosive puff of breath.

"Sakura!" Gaara's concerned voice reached her ears. She heard the thudding sound of his feet on the sand.

"I'm alright. There was some uneven ground I wasn't expecting, is all. It's dark."

"That's part of the point of us being out here."

"Oh really? There's a _point_ to this? I thought you just randomly dragooned me into sparring in the middle of the night for the heck of it," she remarked, dryly. He looked down at her, and all she saw was a dark outline blocking the stars.

"Yes, there's a point. I'm not doing this for shits and giggles. Both of us need practice, and in more than just well-lit sessions on the practice grounds in good weather. We need to be ready for anything, and everything. And it's hardly the middle of the night." He sat down in the sand beside her as she pulled herself up to sit too.

"Why? _You_, I can understand. You get missions. But they keep us medics close to the temple so we can heal people. We have access to all the tools we need here, and the knowledge base of hundreds of generations of healers."

"We won't have that luxury for very much longer. I'm certain of it. Mark my words, Sakura, we're going to start taking losses in the field, and that'll still be while we're sending out scouting units. Things are going to change. I told the council what they should do months ago, and they ignored me. Pretty soon they're not going to have a choice."

"Why are you telling them things? You're not on the council, you're an acolyte. Of course they're not going to listen to you, even if your father is a high priest," she snorted. It was things like this that really demonstrated the hubris that could come with being hereditary. Gaara expected to be listened to and taken seriously, despite the fact that he was 18 and an acolyte; and he was shocked and upset when he wasn't.

"That's not—I mean, I—ugh!" Gaara sputtered in frustration. "I _know_ what I'm talking about. They would know too, if they bothered to look at the patterns of the last time Akatsuki invaded. I don't mean the raiding that occurred 14 years ago that everyone _calls_ a war. I mean the last time we had a full out _war_."

"That wasn't a war?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. Not that Gaara could see it in the dark.

"No. The last real war we had with Akatsuki was 148 years ago. It took four years for us to repel them, and then we went on the offensive and re-established our line of fortifications in the south. We cleaned out the little border countries. It took eight years, all told. The raiding 14 years ago was a bad summer."

Sakura was silent for a moment, digesting this. To hear the events that killed her parents described as a 'bad summer' was a little upsetting, but she forcibly told herself this wasn't about her. It was about their nation, and the survival of their very way of life. If Gaara was right… "You think that's going to happen again, don't you? A real war, not just skirmishes and raiding. Open battle on the plains south of Arakawa again, with not only shinobi but conscripted troops."

"Yeah," he acknowledged.

"So why the 'night manoeuvres'?"

"Medics are the most useful when they're _alive_," he remarked dryly.

She snorted. "That's true. So this is training in how to keep me alive?"

"And me, though you need it more."

"Oh, _thanks_," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. It didn't matter that he couldn't see it; she was fairly certain he'd sense the intention. "If that's the case, we should see if others want to join us. Make it a free-for-all, or have teams… a real war isn't going to be one-on-one combat. I'm going to need to learn how to keep myself alive in the middle of the chaos of a battlefield." Not to mention, it would help reduce any temptation to kiss him in the darkness. If others were watching, it might just inhibit him… _and_ her.

"That's good thinking, Sakura." She could hear the smile in Gaara's voice. "You're absolutely right. When I come to get you tomorrow night, there will be others here to practice with us." He rose from the sand. She sat up and did likewise, figuring it was time to go back to her temple and sleep. She stretched.

"I think I need to go to bed. It's late," she said.

"Do that. Don't worry about the kunai; I'll come out here tomorrow morning and gather them; a night in the sand won't hurt them. You can come if you want."

"I can't. I still have _punishment_ duty," she snarked, feeling a little put out about it.

"You have _what_?" Sakura could see Gaara turn to face her, his voice full of surprise. "Punishment? What for?"

"Don't play innocent, Gaara. I got caught with the hickey _you_ left on me, and Tsunade gave me 30 days in Intensive Care doing grunt work. Thanks a lot!" she said, sarcastically.

"Uhh…" Gaara extemporized. "I'm, uh… I'm sorry."

It was the lamest apology she'd ever heard, but Sakura accepted it anyway. "Don't get me in trouble again, ok? If Tsunade catches me again, she'll probably give me a _year_ of punishment duty," she grumbled.

"All we really need to do is to not get caught," he suggested mischievously.

"Gaara!" she huffed in exasperation. "I should go, before we get caught out _here_."

"Wait," he said, reaching for her. She paused. Before she could react, he enfolded her in his arms and gave her a tender, chaste kiss on the lips before releasing her. "Be well, Sakura."

"You too, Gaara." She spent a moment gazing at his shadowy form before heading back to her cell for rest.

Gaara was certainly an odd one, she mused as she dressed for night and snuggled under the sheets of her narrow novice's bed. Seriously, coming and summoning her after the evening meal while she was relaxing in the library, just so he could spar with her out on the practice ground sands. At night.

But it had been fun, and he was probably right about the political situation. She was the most combat-ready of the medics in her age group, and to tell the truth, she was the most combat ready of the Six Tails' novices and acolytes put together. But even her fighting abilities were poor compared to what the training in One Tail's temple could provide. Gaara's idea might be crazy, but it might just save her life if she got sent out on a _real_ mission.

Plus, there was a tiny little part of her (ok, maybe not so tiny if she was honest to herself) that thrilled at the idea of spending time with him… time chaperoned by friendly peers, of course. There was no sense in putting herself _directly_ into the path of temptation.

With that thought, she gave into the fatigue of a long day followed by strenuous exercise and drifted off to sleep. She rose with the dawn, feeling refreshed. Perhaps sparring in the evening was good for one's rest, because she felt _great_.

One of the novice's bathing-room stalls was occupied when she got there; curtain pulled across the alcove to protect the bather's privacy and keep water from splashing everywhere. Sakura took the stall beside the other girl, and turned on the water. While she was soaping up, the other one started humming.

Wait a moment, Sakura recognised that hum, even with the funny distortion caused by the stone cubicle walls and the falling water. "Ino? Is that you?"

The sound of a curtain being drawn rapidly answered her, and Ino's face, pink from the steam, peered suddenly through Sakura's curtains. "Sakura? Oh, oops, sorry!" the other girl shouted, turning bright red as she realized she'd just stuck her head in on her friend bathing. Ino's face vanished.

"Sorry about that, Sakura. I'm a little tired and brain-dead after all that time in that stupid little coastal village," Ino apologized.

Sakura laughed. It wasn't like neither of them had seen another naked girl before, and she was covered in soap suds anyway. "It's alright, Ino. Just don't do it again," she snorted. "How did it go?"

Ino groaned emphatically. "I've never seen so much vomit in my life!" she exclaimed in disgust.

"Ewwww, really?"

"Yeah, they kept eating clams and oysters from the beach even after I warned them that the red sand would make them sick. I immunized them all – ugh, I've never seen so many _needles_ in my life, or seen so many screaming children, _or_ grown men crying… but they just wouldn't listen when I told them that the shot would keep them from dying but they'd still get sick from it while their immunes fought it _off_. Ugh, people are stupid sometimes."

"Why didn't they stop eating the shellfish?"

"Something about some annual festival. I don't think a festival is worth puking your guts out for the next three days. How fun is _that_?" Ino made a theatrical gagging noise.

"Did anyone die?"

"No, thank the gods. I got there with the medicines in time. Although in addition to the shots, I ended up treating just about everyone with nausea medication too, and there was quite a bit of dehydration to look into. I'm glad our last class dealt with that, it was all pretty fresh in my mind."

"Lucky timing," Sakura remarked.

"Tell me about it."

"So have you gone back to the shrine yet?"

"No. I wanted to wash the _stench_ off. I don't even want to think about what that place smelled like. I don't want to kneel before my god smelling like… well, you know."

"I understand. I didn't exactly want to go before any of the gods reeking of the jungle, either," Sakura laughed. Ino chuckled at that.

"How's your task going?" Ino inquired.

"It sprouted!"

"That's great! Have you taken it in yet?"

"No, I'm going to wait until I'm sure it's going to _live_ through the walk over to the Five Tails' temple. I don't exactly want to wait another month for the next one to sprout, hah!"

Ino laughed. "I sure hope my next task doesn't take me another month. Or yours, for that matter. How's Hinata?"

"She's not back yet."

"Oh." Ino's tone dropped its cheer at once. "Do you think she's ok?"

"I'm pretty sure she is. She's got the byakugan, you know. No jaguar in the world could sneak up on her," Sakura reassured her friend.

"I know, it's just… I worry."

"That's because you care, Ino. She'll be back safe and sound."

Sakura heard the squeak of the tap as Ino killed the flow of water in her cubicle. The rings of Ino's curtain jangled against the metal bar as the fabric was once more pushed aside. "I hope so. I'm going to go return to the Six Tails. I'll meet you in the refectory. Save a spot for me."

"I will," Sakura agreed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Yes, it has been a while. I am still alive. The surgery went well and I'll know by next week whether there's any further cause for concern. I've just been really _really_ tired. Apparently that's a common side effect of having been anesthetized - it's completely normal to be a bit droopy for a few weeks after. It doesn't help that I've been putting in 44-50 hour weeks at work and got back into WoW (_bad_ errihu! Bad girl!)... I'm behind on all my beta jobs and behind on this story.  
**

**To be honest I'm not going to have the time to update this on any kind of regular schedule for a bit. However, NaNoWriMo has introduced Camp NaNoWriMo, which lets you pick any month _you_ want to do your NaNo in, and I'm thinking about making August a NaNo month. Plus I have a week's vacation out at a place with no internet so I'm going to bring my laptop and try to get some writing done between the fishing.**

**So please enjoy this much-belated chapter 19.**

* * *

Chapter 19

That evening, Sakura slipped off to the training grounds after finishing her supper. The night was warm, and the humidity spoke of the rainy season that was soon to come. She took a deep breath, enjoying the peacefulness of the night, before she headed off to break that peace.

At the training grounds, two figures were already fighting. Sakura watched the shadowy forms as they moved across the moon-silvered sands. The backdrop of trees that formed the other edge of the training ground meant she couldn't see all the details, but she could see where they were by the contrast of dark bodies on pale sand.

Well, _she_ wasn't fighting right now, so whatever rules these two were using about chakra didn't apply to her. She let her chakra senses expand out of her like a sigh of breath. It was a skill Tsunade had been trying to teach her, that of sensing her surroundings with her chakra. It might be an extension of the sensing she did to diagnose a patient, but that didn't mean she was good at it yet. So far she found it difficult to maintain this kind of sense while doing anything else. It sure wasn't an instinctive act by any means. Sakura acknowledged to herself that she really should practice more. If she'd been in better practice, she would have known it was Gaara in her room the other night and not embarrassed herself trying to attack him.

With the opportunity to relax and let the chakra flow, she could sense decently. She smiled when she found it gave her a much better idea of what both combatants were doing at a given time. That was definitely Gaara out there, and if she was right, it was Naruto he was sparring with. Both were constantly on the move. As in her spar with Gaara the night before, it seemed that they were limiting themselves to kunai and taijutsu, for she sensed no chakra expenditures from either of them, though both practically blazed with restrained power. Was that what set apart the great families of the hereditary clergy from shinobi like herself; the vast power they inherited?

Naruto and Gaara had closed and were grappling, and Gaara was faring somewhat better. Focusing on her chakra senses, Sakura sat in the sand and watched as Gaara deflected Naruto's attempted punch, and then hooked a foot around the blond's ankle and tumbled him into the sand. Naruto's squawk was audible from where Sakura sat, and she smirked as the Gaara-shadow dipped, clearly holding a kunai.

"Yield?" Gaara asked.

"Whatever," Naruto laughed. "You take this stuff so seriously sometimes."

"Staying alive is serious business!" Gaara protested. Naruto just laughed. "Look, you can't count on being _lucky_ all the time."

"Who says?"

"You—argh, never mind. Let's do this again. Here." In the moonlight Sakura saw Gaara offer Naruto an arm up.

"Thanks," said the blond, springing to his feet with Gaara's help. "But aren't you going to say hi to Sakura? She's been sitting over there watching us for several minutes now."

"What? Sakura!" Gaara turned towards her. "You came."

"Well," she said, rising, "you _did_ say you wanted me to come spar tonight. So you got Naruto to join us, huh?"

"Yeah, he nagged me all afternoon about how we all need practice," Naruto said cheerfully.

"I did _not_ nag you," Gaara muttered defensively.

"Sure sounded like it," Naruto laughed. "Hey Sakura, come join us. This is going to be even more fun with three of us! Betcha can't see my kunai coming!"

It was completely hectic and completely fun. One other person in the sparring match added a whole new dimension to the faux battle. Most shinobi battle drills focused on single opponent or a team against multiples, but a free-for-all was new to her. It was exhilarating. Gaara and Naruto both 'killed' her several times, though she got Gaara once and Naruto twice. She finally realized it had gotten _really_ late when she took a sweat-and-pant break and glanced at the moons.

"Hey Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto asked cheerfully, a little louder than she would have liked. She winced. She didn't want to get caught out here. It was unlikely she'd be punished for practicing, but she was already in the doghouse and Gaara was here… so she didn't want to chance it.

"It's late, guys. _Really_ late. I need to go to bed or I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow."

She saw the silhouettes of Gaara and Naruto turn to the moons.

"Uh oh, you're right, I'd better get into my bed before old man Jiraiya stumbles back from the taverns and decides to check on me…" Naruto trailed off. Sakura made a face. Taverns? That wasn't exactly setting a good role model for the clergy!

Gaara grunted. "They want me to clean the arena sands again. I suppose I'd better go. I want to see you out here tomorrow night, Cherry Blossom. You too, Naruto. Tonight was good but we definitely need practice."

"You're a crazy man, Gaara," Naruto laughed. "But I'll be here. Don't worry. There's no need to drag me out by my ankles with your sand, I'll come willingly!"

Sakura saw the Gaara-shadow cross his arms, and she goggled. He _dragged Naruto _out of the Nine-Tails' temple_ using his sand_? She covered her mouth to suppress the laugh.

"You'd better. You're almost as out of practice as Cherry Blossom," Gaara muttered.

"_Hey!_" both Naruto and Sakura shouted at the same time. Gaara chuckled lowly at their reaction. Sakura suppressed the urge to push up her sleeve and deck him.

"Be back here after the evening hour tomorrow, and we'll continue this. Goodnight," Gaara stated, apparently choosing to ignore the indignation of his friends. Sakura was sure he was smirking, even if she couldn't see it.

The next day she reaped the rewards of staying up too late hurling kunai. She dragged through her tasks, doing her best to hop to it so Yashamaru and the other medics wouldn't notice her drowsiness. She thought she might even have succeeded.

That night at supper, she and Ino got a pleasant surprise; Hinata was back. The young Hyūga girl looked as exhausted as Sakura felt, but she'd obviously had a chance to clean up before hitting the refectory. She was sitting at their usual table, mechanically eating a bowl of soup, when Ino and Sakura came in for the supper rush. She didn't notice either of her friends as they put their trays on the table and sat down with her, she was that spaced out.

"Rough time in the jungle, Hinata?" Ino asked. Hinata startled and dropped her spoon into her soup, splashing all three girls with broth. The dark-haired girl looked up at them both, blushing.

"S-s-s-sorry I d-d-didn't see you sit down," she stammered.

"Are you ok?" Sakura wrinkled a brow at her pale-eyed friend.

"Yeah, j-j-just really tired. I f-f-feel like I could sleep for a week," Hinata replied. Her stutter was back. Sakura suspected it was due to sheer exhaustion.

"What happened?" Ino demanded. "You're back _safe_, right? You're not some kind of replacement Hinata sent by a jungle monster or something are you?"

Hinata glared at Ino, which looked really funny coming from the shy Hyūga. "I'm not a r-r-replacement Hinata. I'm the real m-me. I had to get a poisonous lizard and that thing was so h-h-hard to find."

"A _poisonous lizard_? Ewwww," Ino twisted her lips.

"It wasn't that bad, just took a long time," Hinata muttered into her soup bowl as she resumed eating.

"Hungry?" Sakura commented. Hinata nodded silently and continued eating.

"Well don't fall asleep at the table and drown in your soup. Your family would never live it down," Ino teased. Hinata snorted softly and then giggled. Hinata's treatment and summary dismissal as a worthless medic by her family had been a sore spot for the girl when she was much younger, and the three friends had dealt with it by making the infamous Hyūga stick-in-the ass attitude a point of humour.

"It would humiliate c-c-cousin Neji," Hinata giggled. "'Cousin of famous Hyūga prodigy drowns in soup, casts d-d-doubt on entire bloodline. Read all about it in the Miyajima Braggart!'"

"Oh no!" Sakura gasped in mock horror, clutching her hands like an outraged society matron. "Our family shall never live down the shame!"

Hinata and Ino both laughed.

"D-d-don't worry, I won't die in my soup. But I think I will sl-sl-sleep for a week."

"Oh," Ino declared, "I got my second task today!"

"Oh yeah?" Sakura asked, while Hinata gave Ino an interested look.

"Yeah I went to the Four Tails. I've got to copy an ancient scroll of techniques. But there's a catch, I have to prepare the parchment and the ink _myself_," Ino informed them.

"Sounds labour intensive," Hinata said, then yawned hugely.

"Finish your soup and go to bed, girl!" Sakura ordered with a laugh, earning a smirk from Ino and a smile from Hinata. "Ino, that sounds interesting. Learning how to make ink shouldn't be too different from brewing potions, right? I'll bet that Sai guy knows how to make ink if you can't find out how. He's an artist, apparently."

"Sai? Who's that? And yeah, this task doesn't sound so bad. It might take a while, but at least I'm not going to get eaten by a jaguar while doing it." Ino grinned brightly.

"Didn't I tell you two about Sai? I met him at the Seven Tails' temple; he ate with me and Shino while I was working on that tarsier skeleton. He's our age, an acolyte, and a transfer from Kubo. He's a very good artist. Shino says he does the crime scene sketches for the city guards," Sakura explained.

"He probably _does_ know how to make ink, but I don't know if I want to go asking a creepy Seven Tails' acolyte for help. They're _weird_ over there." Ino made a face of distaste.

"Might be worth a shot," Hinata yawned again.

"Finish your soup and go to bed!" Ino barked, and then followed up with a laugh. Hinata smiled tiredly.

"Yes, High Priestess Ino. Whatever you s-s-say, High Priestess Ino," Hinata teased. Ino rolled her eyes. "So s-s-sorry about the stutter, too t-t-tired to concentrate."

"It's no problem, Hinata. I'd noticed that it had almost gone away before tonight, but I didn't want to comment. I know how much it used to hurt you when people teased you about it," Sakura said.

"Yeah," Ino echoed.

"It's ok. I know y-y-you two, you're my friends. It's gotten better. N-N-Naruto has been helping me." Hinata smiled a little secretive smile. Both Ino and Sakura grinned.

"He's a good guy," Sakura said.

"He's kind of goofy. And kind of … _blond_," Ino pointed out.

"Hey, so are _you_, Ino-Pig!"

"Shut up, Forehead!" The two shot daggers at each other with their eyes, before breaking off with smiles when Hinata laughed at them both, smothering her giggles with her hand.

Gods, it was good to have both of her friends back.

Sakura kept up her night manoeuvres with Gaara and Naruto, night after night. The long days in Intensive Care, followed by evenings spent mock-fighting with the two boys left her exhausted, but she was noticing an improvement in her techniques. All this night fighting was doing wonders for her chakra senses. By the time the _roho_ seed was ready to turn in to the Five Tails, she was able to maintain her senses while attacking and defending, even if it was only just barely.

Turning in the _roho_ seed was a small triumph that Sakura was eager to finally be able to do. It had indeed almost taken a month for the seed to germinate. She knelt before the Five Tails' shrine with a slight tinge of glee as she cleared her mind for prayer.

The touch of the Five Tails was still unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. Sakura remembered the good humour the god appeared to possess. She felt an echo of it in his acknowledgement of the seedling; the wordless sense that he gave her was that she had done a good job, and now she could leave it to his clergy to grow it to an adult tree. She blushed at that, remembering her dismay when she had thought she was going to have to wait years for the tree to establish.

The Cat was supposed to be the trickster of the pantheon, but the Five Tails, it seemed, liked to play his jokes too. Well, maybe she should expect no less from something called a dolphin-horse. Seriously, the animal itself was a bit of a joke… did those even occur in nature? Isn't _that_ ironic?

She'd gone to the temple of the Five Tails in that short half hour between punishment duty in the IC and supper. She knew she didn't have time to go to the Four Tails. Who knew what the monkey would want. The god of wisdom was said to have tasks that serve multiple purposes; one intention was surely to please the god, but novices almost always learned something from the task. The thing about learning and growth was that sometimes it wasn't always easy or comfortable. She would go the next night, after she'd had a chance to rest.

If it could be termed rest, that is. Gaara and Naruto were quick to congratulate her on finishing her task, but neither of them were particularly interested in letting her have an evening off. Gaara had smirked out a smile she could sense even in the dim light of the moons, and told her that the enemy wouldn't give her evenings off. She sighed and sparred with them.

Going to her cell after their session, she considered that they were getting too used to the dynamic of the three of them. After a couple of weeks of this, they pretty much knew all of each others' moves. It was still fun, and there was no doubt that she was getting better at thinking on her feet in battle and dealing with situational awareness when vision was limited. And her chakra sensing had improved by leaps and bounds. But, she mused, this was getting a little… stagnant. What could they do to make it more interesting?

She slept on it, and was still not sure about the answer when she woke up in the morning. But her duties awaited in IC, and then she had to go to the Four Tails' temple and present her offering. Which she suddenly realized she didn't have… she would have to go into the city after punishment duty and get something suitable. What did one give to the god of wisdom? A scroll maybe? Or some artwork or something? She should ask Ino, Ino was on that task right now.

After IC she tooled around in the library until the supper bell, and then raced off to the refectory to catch Ino. She spotted the blonde sitting with Hinata at their usual table and scooted over with her tray of mystery meat. Ahh… the joys of refectory food.

"Hey Forehead. What's up, you look like you got something on your mind!" Ino greeted her cheerfully. Hinata gave her a smile and a wave; she was currently in the middle of chewing something.

"Hey Ino, Hinata," Sakura grinned. "Yeah, I got something on my mind. I have no idea what to give the Four Tails. What did you do for him for an offering, Ino?"

"Oh that was easy. I found an interesting carving. He seemed to like it. It was a monkey," Ino replied. "Oh, hey, I went and saw that Sai guy. Good looking but kind of creepy with that fake smile and dead stare."

Sakura snickered at Ino's dead-on description of Sai. Hinata grinned, and finished with her mouthful, commented, "So did you learn how to make ink?"

"Yeah," the blonde looked pleased with herself. "It's _really_ easy. Just charcoal ash, water, and vinegar. At least, he said that's the easy kind; there's other kinds that are more difficult, but that will work well for a hide scroll."

"Really? That's it?" Sakura mused. That didn't seem so bad.

"Yeah but don't forget I still have to copy the scroll. That's going to take a while. But at least the ink part's not that bad."

"I finished the Two Tails' task today," Hinata interjected.

"Oh, how was that?" Ino demanded avidly.

"Yeah," Sakura dittoed, shifting in her seat.

"I couldn't believe how I'd lucked out with the task. All she wanted was two bags of flour from a special baker in town. So I went and I got that for her, brought them back and started to pray, and then the entire shrine went pitch black. Before I even thought about using my byakugan, there was this poofing noise and I was coughing. The lights came back on and there was flour _everywhere_; floating in the air, all over the shrine, all over _me_… but oddly enough, not a speck was on the obelisk or on any of the acolytes and priests that were nearby. And they were all laughing fit to kill themselves," Hinata told them. "It took half an hour to wash the flour out of my hair. It became glue when it got wet."

"Oh dear," Sakura said.

"Oh my gods, I really am not looking forward to doing the Two Tails' tasks, I heard she pranks _everyone!_" Ino moaned. "I'll probably end up dyed green with purple dots or something ridiculous like that."

"If you try to avoid it, you'll end up embarrassed for sure. I think the Two Tails does it to teach us humility," Hinata suggested. "I sure felt humiliated."

"I've got to tackle the Four Tails first. And then the Three Tails," said the pink-haired teen.

"So you've got that much longer to worry about what she's going to do to you," Ino laughed.

"_You're_ the one who's scared, Ino. Not me."

"Forehead! I'm not _scared_, I'm just… wisely cautious!"

"Whatever Ino-pig!" Sakura laughed.

"So are you going to go down to the city to get something for the Four Tails, or are you going to vanish like you always do after supper now?" Hinata broke in.

"What? Disappear?" Sakura felt confused.

"Yeah, Sakura, you think your two best friends wouldn't notice that you make yourself scarce every night after supper? Where is it you're going anyway? C'mon, Forehead, you know you gotta tell us because otherwise we'll just follow you. It's Gaara isn't it! Sakura, you _bad girl_, you!" Ino grinned like a shark.

Sakura blushed. "Erm, well, uh…" she stammered. She knew what Ino was trying to suggest, but it wasn't _like_ that.

"It is too, look at her turn red," Hinata giggled.

"It's nothing inappropriate!" Sakura snapped out. "Look, if you don't believe me, you're free to come along. I've been sparring with him and Naruto every night for the last couple of week in order to get better at night fighting."

"So _that's_ the special training Naruto said he did! He never told me it was with you and Gaara!" Hinata griped. "He never invited me along either."

"Well, did you ask him if you could come?" Sakura asked, pointedly. Hinata blushed.

"Actually it hadn't occurred to me," the Hyūga confessed.

"Then you can hardly complain about being left out," Sakura snorted.

"Not quite, Forehead. Did you forget about your two best friends entirely while you were out there playing with those boys? I might have liked to come," Ino glared at her.

"What? Ino, you only did combat training because you _had_ to. And sorry, you were both away when we started and I got so used to it being just me and Gaara and Naruto that I hadn't thought of anyone else. But do you know what? I'd been thinking that it was starting to get boring, so maybe with you two it'll be exciting again." It was an elegant solution, that was for sure; her best friends would get to be included, and Sakura knew that this would make the sparring sessions a lot more fun again. "I'll wait to get the carving tomorrow. You two come with me after supper to the training ground.

"Well at the very least if anyone gets hurt, there'll be three medics there to take care of things," Hinata commented. Ino agreed with a laugh, and Sakura smiled at her friends. They cleared up their trays and the pink-haired teen led them both to the training grounds, where Gaara and Naruto were preparing for a spar.

The red-head caught sight of the trio of girls and motioned to Naruto to halt his impending attack. The boisterous novice of the Nine Tails paused and turned to see who was approaching.

"Hinata!" the blond boy bellowed. Sakura was sure he was grinning from ear to ear. "Are you here to come practice too?"

"Of course I am, Naruto! You should have told me about this, because maybe I would like to play too!" Hinata said. In the shadowy darkness Sakura could still see her friend standing with her hands on her hips.

"I also want to practice," Ino insisted.

"Very well, you may both join us. The more of us there are, the more we can simulate the true chaos of the battlefield," Gaara stated.

"So you don't mind?" Sakura asked him.

"Not at all, my Cherry Blossom. This is for the best. Now, all of you prepare! Let's have a free-for-all!"

"A what? But I haven't practiced in _months_!" Ino protested.

"You'll get practice now!" Naruto laughed.


End file.
